Litigation and the decline of serious injuries and death - May 24, 2010

A friend was relaying a story the other day which highlights the elimination of many serious injuries and deaths brought about, in large measure, by the personal injury plaintiff bar. He was teaching his 12 year old safety tips when cutting the lawn, and advised him to NEVER go around the side of the mower while it is running to dislodge a stick or other debris. He explained that doing so had resulted in many people losing their fingers or hands. With that he demonstrated how people go off to the side, when the mower suddenly shut off - he had forgotten that modern mowers have automatic shutoff devices when the operator releases the handles. Undeterred, he then went on to tell his son of the dangers of mowing downhill on slick grass and that many a foot had slid underneath the mower, resulting in the loss of toes and feet. Just then he noticed the guard flap on the back of the mower helping to prevent exactly that type of injury. In many instances, you have plaintiffs and litigators to thank for these safety devices.

A March 13, 2010 Los Angeles Times article regarding the Toyota acceleration pedal issue, makes this larger point quite well. The article makes note that the last half century of personal injury litigation has resulted in an enormous amount of innovations that have made our world a safer place. While automobile personal injury law harkens all the way back to a New York case in 1916 which established that automaker's owe a "duty of care" to ensure customers are sold a safe product, tort law began to take real effect in the 60's.

The 1968 ruling in Larsen vs. General Motors Corp. set the stage for courts to get involved in claims for injuries caused by insufficient crash-worthiness design. Many will certainly remember the changes made by manufacturers in the location of gas tanks after the Ford Pinto began to burst into flames when rear-ended in the 70's. Litigation played a large role in this and now most cars are designed to take at least a 50-mile an hour rear-end collision.

In the late sixties, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was created and began setting safety standards. Following are just a few of the terms that are common place today: seat belts, airbags, antilock brakes, side impact ratings, rollover standards, electronic stability control, head restraints, rear impact protection - and the list goes on and on. Meanwhile, as we have written about repeatedly in this blog, traffic fatalities and automobile crash related serious injuries continue on a downward trend.

Personal injury attorneys, manufacturers, federal regulators and the insurance industry have all played a important role. The bottom line is that despite the occasional complaints and criticisms - our legal system in the United States may work slowly, but with tremendous long term beneficial effects.