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Owning a vehicle comes with many responsibilities. When a lapse in those responsibilities leads to an accident, the vehicle owner could be considered liable for the resulting damages.
That includes situations where a vehicle owner’s failure to keep their vehicle maintained and in good repair led to an accident.
A Hartford injury attorney can represent you, helping you seek to prove that another driver was responsible for your accident. If they failed to keep their vehicle maintained, and that failure led to your accident, then the resulting damages are on them.
Work with an experienced Hartford neglected vehicle maintenance accident lawyer to pursue a claim for all applicable damages. We fight to hold responsible parties accountable, doing everything we can to maximize your chances of walking away with the money you need.
Schedule a free case review today when you call (203) 633-7449 or contact us online.
Most auto accidents don’t happen out of the blue. They are commonly caused by negligence, meaning that someone lapsed in their duty of care, causing the crash when it wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
Negligence can involve many things, including a failure to pay attention, a failure to obey the speed limit, or a failure to ensure that your car’s most important parts are functioning the way they should.
Connecticut law provides that each vehicle must have the bare minimum equipment it needs to operate safely and in compliance with all state regulations. Failing to do so can constitute a breach of the driver’s duty of care to keep everyone else safe.
Bad brakes, bald tires, burnt-out headlights, worn-down windshield wipers, and the like are all the responsibility of the vehicle owner — or its daily operator — to catch and fix. Every vehicle owner, accordingly, must take reasonable measures to have their vehicle inspected, maintained, and repaired in order to ensure it can function safely on the road.
Vehicle drivers are also expected to have due diligence, checking to see that things like lights work and that brakes function as they should. Failing to do so can result in a serious accident, one that causes major injuries to others who are now victims of neglected vehicle maintenance.
A Hartford neglected vehicle maintenance accident attorney can help you determine whether a faulty vehicle component was responsible for your wreck and if the fault was created by a lack of maintenance or adequate repairs on the part of the owner.
Specifically, a neglected vehicle maintenance injury claim will seek to prove the following:
Data from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that around 44,000 wrecks each year can be attributed primarily to vehicle-related factors.
Looking at these vehicle-related accidents, many involved serious issues with critical vehicle parts:
While such accidents may be rare, relative to ones caused purely by driver errors, they still happen with alarming frequency on Hartford’s roads. Below, we have broken down how typical issues can lead to a serious accident.
Tires are among the most important parts of your vehicle to keep maintained. They take the brunt of punishment from the road and, as such, are designed to wear out and eventually be replaced.
Keeping up with tire maintenance can be as simple as checking that each tire is inflated according to manufacturer specifications. An NHTSA study found that over a quarter of all cars and around a third of SUVs, pickups, and other light trucks drive around with underinflated tires.
Proper inflation ensures the expected amount of grip, which can affect steering, braking, and other key aspects of performance. Vehicle owners should also have their tires rotated to ensure even wear and balance so that they aren’t vibrating while they spin.
Tires that have worn treads should be replaced. Further, vehicle owners should only purchase safe tires, preferably new ones, from a reputable and licensed vendor.
Poor tire maintenance often means low traction, especially at higher speeds or in inclement weather. It can also lengthen braking distances and limit the driver’s ability to steer and avoid accidents.
Brakes have to be capable of performing stopping distances in compliance with state and federal regulations. Most often, their maintenance involves replacing rotors periodically, but calipers and other parts of the braking system may also need replacement or repairs.
Further, all vehicles need a minimum level of braking fluid for brakes to function as intended.
Despite the risks, many drivers cruise around on worn rotors, or they may have other serious issues with their brakes that have gone unaddressed. They will be unable to stop in time to prevent an accident if they let issues persist.
Perhaps worse, without the ability to slow, they can make crash injuries worse than they would be otherwise because of the higher impact forces.
Issues with engines most often mean that the vehicle can barely run, but faulty timing and other concerns can contribute to an inability to avoid accidents, as can sudden stalls in traffic. Transmission issues can cause a wreck when the transmission slips or when the wrong gear is selected, leading to a sudden acceleration or deceleration.
A functioning steering system is needed to navigate roads safely and steer away from hazards. Yet, many drivers have low steering fluid or mechanical issues that make their vehicles harder to control.
Finally, a suspension issue can cause a sudden loss of control or other challenges that make an impact on traffic more likely.
Claims against repair shops after an accident are rare, but they are possible. Liability, on the mechanic’s part, ultimately comes down to the question of whether the accident would not have happened had the business followed its expected standards of care.
Examples where a repair establishment may hold liability for a wreck related to vehicle performance may include ones where the shop:
What’s key in cases like these is that the negligent repairs must have been the primary (or sole) cause of your accident. Talk with your attorney to review all factors, and they will potentially investigate the business that performed your repairs.
Your attorney may request documentation of the repair from the shop, for instance, or possibly a record of prior complaints for issues similar to yours. A repair shop could be considered solely liable for your accident damages, or they may be one of multiple parties that hold responsibility for the costs of your accident.
A typical injury claim will include one or all of the following categories of damages:
At Bert McDowell Injury Law, we refuse to let others off the hook for their own failure to look after their vehicle. Each driver has a responsibility to ensure their vehicle is safe before they get on the road, and vehicle owners should ensure that the vehicles they provide are safe for others to use.
If you have been in an accident caused by someone else’s laziness and carelessness, we know how devastating it can feel. That’s because we have handled thousands of cases like yours in the past, and we have a history of winning settlements and verdicts for our clients.
We pledge to do everything we can to give your case a high chance of success, even if we can’t guarantee a win.
The good news is we don’t get paid unless you do! We’ll never charge you anything upfront, and we only receive a fee for our services if we are able to secure compensation for you.
Find out more about how we can help go after the money you need to recover when you call (203) 633-7449 or contact us online to schedule a free, no-obligation case review.