On behalf of two catastrophically injured Pennsylvania residents, Rob Ammons has filed suit against General Motors. The lawsuit cites defects in the 2005 Chevrolet Trailblazer for causing a rollover crash and the passengers’ serious injuries. The driver of the vehicle was killed in the rollover and his estate was included as a defendant in the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, the Trailblazer was headed northbound on a South Carolina highway when it traveled onto the right shoulder. After the driver recovered the main lanes of the road, the Trailblazer rolled over, coming to rest on its roof.
In the lawsuit, Rob Ammons claims the Trailblazer’s lack of a safety feature known as electronic stability control (ESC) caused the accident because, without it, the vehicle was prone to becoming uncontrollable under normal and foreseeable operating conditions. This feature uses sensors to compare the driver’s intended trajectory to the direction in which a vehicle is actually traveling. When impending loss of control is detected, it immediately applies the brakes on one side or one corner so that the vehicle is returned to its intended path of travel. ESC has been shown to be especially helpful in preventing loss of control accidents in road-edge recovery situations like the one that presented itself on this Florida highway.
Ammons also claims that the Trailblazer did not provide adequate occupant restraint and protection in the event of a rollover crash. It is alleged that the roof was weak, the seat belts failed to either lock or remain buckled, and the side window glass shattered and vacated the window openings. As a result of these shortcomings, two passengers in the Trailblazer were not fully contained within the vehicle during the crash. They were subjected to harmful contact with the roof as it collapsed and with the ground as the vehicle rolled. According to the lawsuit, despite use of the vehicle’s available seat belts, one passenger – a 12-year-old boy – sustained a spinal cord injury that has rendered him paraplegic. The other passenger – a 45-year-old woman – sustained numerous injuries that included a traumatic brain injury and is currently completely incapacitated.
While Plaintiffs would not have sustained their catastrophic injuries if the Trailblazer had not been defective, it was also alleged in the lawsuit that the driver of the vehicle breached his duty to exercise ordinary care in operating the Trailblazer by allowing it to leave the main travel lane and enter the highway’s shoulder.
Rob Ammons is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, in addition to being Board Certified in Civil Law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. Rob Ammons’ law practice, The Ammons Law Firm, is located in Houston, Texas.
The Ammons Law Firm’s practice is exclusively personal injury law, handling such cases as: tire defects, oil rig explosions, truck accidents, plant explosions, refinery accidents, wrongful death, post-collision fires, seat belt defects, airbag defects, SUV rollovers and workplace negligence.