Defective Vehicle Component Causes Serious Injuries

Case Overview

This automotive mechanics case takes place in Georgia and involves an unintended acceleration in the plaintiff’s vehicle. It’s alleged that the design of the car’s accelerator and floormat allowed the accelerator to become stuck to the floor of the car, causing dangerous and unintentional acceleration. The plaintiff suffered multiple injuries after being in an accident caused by this defect, and is now confined to a wheelchair. According to the plaintiff, the pedal became stuck as he was merging onto the freeway, causing him to impact another vehicle and throwing him into the median divider at high speed.

Questions to the Materials expert and their responses

Please explain your qualifications to review this case.

This case is right in my area of expertise and I am glad to assist. Currently, I am the president at my textile testing laboratory where I test thousands of car mats every year for safety.

Do you have extensive experience testing automotive floor mats?

There are really only 8-10 different versions of slip resistant car mats. I am knowledgeable about the majority of them and have tested virtually every kind of carpeting and automotive floor mat.

What is your experience working on similar cases?

I have tested the car mats in this particular vehicle model and the car mats and several other major automobile manufacturers. From my findings, these mats do indeed pose a danger of locking the accelerator to the floor during normal use, and may have been the cause of this accident.

About the expert

This highly qualified expert has years of experience in the floor-covering industry. He oversees a database of 50,000+ flooring products and has conducted 150,000+ analyses of flooring technology. He received his BS degree in business computer information systems from Lee University and has published 8+ articles on surface technology. He is a member of multiple professional associations, including the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists and the Carpet and Rug Institute. He has served as a speaker and instructor for the Advanced Flooring Specialists Training Seminar and the School of Surface Technologies. He has also participated in numerous floor-covering technical workshops and conferences. Currently, he is the Director of a major automotive components testing laboratory and the president of a major automotive consulting firm in Georgia.