New York Drivers Beware: Defective And Dangerous Auto Parts

A worldwide recall of a number of Toyota model cars has many in New York wondering about the safety of their cars. While you can drive defensively and follow all rules of the roads, it is still possible for you to become involved in a serious car accident based solely on a mechanical error in your vehicle.

In the case of the Toyota recall, the mammoth automaker says that millions of their cars have a defective accelerator that could cause their cars to jump forward without warning when the anti-lock brakes are used. There are already a number of class action lawsuits regarding this defective car part problem, with hundreds of Toyota drivers claiming that they have sustained serious car accident injuries due to the dangerous car part.

There have been other defective car parts in the past that have led to car accidents in New York. In 1972, Ford issued a large recall involving 4 million cars with faulty seatbelt buckles – defective safety buckles that could fail during car accidents and lead to serious injury and death. In 1996, Ford recalled its popular Explore model after a number of incidents in which the defective ignition caused car fires. In 2005, Ford recalled another 4.5 million vehicles suffering from dangerous cruise control malfunctions.

Just in 2009 alone, 15.9 million cars were recalled in America. In 2008, 8.6 million cars were recalled due to dangerous malfunctioning parts and mechanical problems. Each year, about 5 percent of the population has to bring in their defective vehicle – and no one knows what percentage of the population could be driving a car containing a defective auto part every day.