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When automakers put their profit over safety, their greed can cost lives of drivers, passengers.

We all know that accidents can and do happen unexpectedly, even to the most careful drivers. But at Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley PA, we ask the question, is it really an accident when automobile manufacturers negligently disregard your safety by hiding known defects and continuing to make and sell defective cars, vans, and SUVs?

We believe the answer is no. And we do not hesitate to hold these big corporations accountable for deaths and injuries to our clients and their families.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that, in today’s world, profits sometimes supersede safety considerations in vehicle design. You would think that, in addition to their moral obligation to make safe cars, it would be good business for auto manufacturers to make the safest vehicles possible. But they don’t. Some automobile companies calculate that the potential cost of lawsuits, if they get caught, is less than the cost of designing safe vehicles, and less than the profits they make by continuing to make and sell vehicles they know are defective.

A case in point is the now infamous Ford Pinto, which, because the gas tank was positioned too high, often exploded on impact in a rear-end collision. Despite rising incidents of explosion, which often resulted in death or horrible injuries to drivers and passengers, Ford stonewalled. The company decided that the cost of retooling its production line would be far more expensive than “paying” innocent victims of the Pinto’s defective design. The result was unprecedented tragedy and lawsuits of historic proportion.

At Searcy Denney, we are no stranger to any of the aspects of cases involving automobile defective design and crashworthiness. We have represented the family of a young man who suffered severe brain injury when crushed in a rollover by the roof of a General Motors SUV which the company knew failed crashworthiness tests. We have found justice for a family devastated by a Ford Bronco rollover that could have been prevented if Ford, knowing the car could roll over during ordinary use, had installed protective devices or warned customers.

In a recent move to expose this kind of stonewalling and to prevent fatalities and injuries that can result, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched a probe into Big Automaker Toyota’s “sudden” recall of more than 8 million vehicles based on incidents of unintended acceleration and drivers’ inability to control the gas pedal. After a 10-month investigation, in February 2011 the agency concluded that the recalled models had no electronic defects, but did have two serious design defects: “sticking” gas pedals and a design flaw that enabled gas pedals to become stuck under floor mats. Toyota’s records indicate that the company knew about these defects; the company paid a $33 million civil penalty for not notifying NHTSA of the problem. Yet Toyota did nothing about the defects until crash incidents were reported and national media picked up the story.

Our attorneys have the experience and the courage to stand up to vehicle manufacturers if a loved one has been killed, or you or family member has been injured, in a rollover or other defective vehicle accident. Please fill out our Contact Form, or call us to learn more and arrange a confidential free consultation.

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