As previously discussed, in the US, its NHTSA’s job to regulate vehicle safety. To that end, NHTSA regulates many issues, such as vehicle lighting, air bags, safety belts, distracted driving amongst others. Any vehicle for sale in the US must adhere to NHTSA guidelines, which is one of the reasons the US market does not include many small, niche manufacturers who would have to modify their existing designs to adhere to US regulations.
The husband of a woman who died in a minivan accident sued the minivan’s manufacturer, Mazda. More specifically, it is likely that the lap belt she wore caused her grievous injury. If you recall, until 2007 cars had to be equipped with three-point harnesses (lap & shoulder) for any seat facing the outside of the vehicle, whereas seats that were not adjacent to the outside, such as a center seat, could have simple lap belts (such as those in airplanes). If your memory can take you even further back, you might remember that when seatbelts were first introduced they were all simple lap belts. For obvious reasons, lap and shoulder belts are much safer than lap belts.
A state appeals court kept the suit from moving forward, reasoning that Mazda had followed federal rules and was therefore immune. Mazda’s defense was that it adhered to federal regulations and that federal law preempts state law, therefore shielding it from state product liability lawsuits.
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled just the opposite. It is allowing the lawsuit to move forward because regulators aimed to set only a minimum standard.
This is a surprising and perplexing decision by a majority-conservative Supreme Court. The obvious effect of this ruling is an expected increase in product liability lawsuits against car manufacturers. Another possible outcome is the reduction in new and innovative technologies. Already, we have seen U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary LaHood take a strong stance against distracted driving. I could imagine a lawsuit alleging that infotainment systems are too distracting and lead to accidents.
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