The American Association for Justice (AAJ) has released a report that traces the history of auto safety improvements in the United States spurred by the civil justice system. The springboard for the April, 2010 report is the recent accelerator defects in many Toyota models. However, the report focuses on the accomplishments of our jury system in bringing about positive change in everything in our cars from gas tanks to tires and air bag safety.
Through historical examples, the report gives us a sense for how far the auto industry has come and where we would be without seriously injured people having access to justice. For example, the report’s introduction takes us back to 1964, when Chevrolet built a sold steering shaft 3 inches from the front tires of its Corvair model, which caused the shaft to ram violently into a driver’s head when he was struck head-on by another vehicle. General Motors was wise to redesign its steering mechanism after evidence of such a preventable injury became public in a court of law. Ultimately, the AAJ report concludes with a diagram theorizing what today’s auto would look like if the American civil justice system didn’t exist.
View full report here: http://www.justice.org/resources/Driven_to_Safety.pdf