Fatal Crash Raises Questions as to Cause or Causes

A recent tragedy in Los Angeles raises many points that show how complicated a personal injury or wrongful death case can be.

On April 26^th, a woman died as the Volkswagen Tiguan she was driving went off the fourth story of a West Los Angeles parking garage. The vehicle landed upside down, causing the roof to cave in. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

At this point, it is not clear what happened to cause this accident. Indeed, many factors may be involved, and we may never know all the details of what happened.

Vehicle Defect?

It is possible that some component of the vehicle failed. It may have slipped into gear, the accelerator may have stuck, the brakes may have failed. Even if none of these things occurred, there is the question of the roof crush. SUVs and other vehicles with a high center of gravity should especially have reinforced roofs in the event they rollover in an accident. Was the roof properly designed in this case? It is possible that it was, and that vehicle roofs are simply not designed to withstand the forces of a four-story fall. Accident experts and engineers may be required to answer that question.

Construction Defect?

Another question surrounds the construction of the parking garage itself. The garage had concrete barriers in place to prevent a car from going over the edge. The barrier in this case failed; it was simply pushed out by the force of the car. The barrier appears to have been connected only to the floor of the garage, so that it swung out and down as if on a hinge, allowing the car to sail over the edge.

Did the barrier's failure reveal a construction defect? One would expect the barrier to be built to withstand most impacts that could foreseeably occur in a parking garage environment. The failure of the barrier could be due to a design defect or it could have been installed improperly or with substandard materials. It is also possible that the barrier was built to acceptable standards and that the acceleration of the vehicle in this particular accident was simply too powerful.

Driver Error?

Some may point to driver error as the likely cause, and that may certainly be the case. The woman's foot may have slipped or she may have had a health emergency that caused her to lose control of the vehicle. But questions about the vehicle's safety and the garage construction remain. Was the Tiguan's roof properly designed and constructed, and what about the barrier? Perhaps this deadly tragedy could only have been a minor accident had other measures been in place.

In California, an injured driver (or the family in a wrongful death action) can recover damages against negligent defendants, even where the injured driver contributed to the accident. A jury decides how much each party is responsible, and defendants who are found negligent are liable for that portion of the damages their negligence caused.

At times of tragedy nobody wants to consider issues like fault and blame and lawsuits. Yet sadly this is also the time when a thorough investigation is most likely to collect and preserve the evidence needed to hold those accountable who contributed to the catastrophe. If a design or manufacturing defect is to blame, legal action is often the fastest and most effective way to change corporate policy and make sure the same tragedy does not befall another individual or family.

Our hearts go out to the families of people who have lost their lives in automobile accidents or due to dangerous, unsafe products and construction. If you find yourself in such a situation and require legal assistance, please contact Fisher & Talwar for a consultation.