When a car accident happens, you rely on your vehicle’s safety features to help protect you from serious injury. If an air bag does not deploy or a seat belt fails, you may suffer injuries that are worse than the impact alone would have caused.
In Georgia, you may have a claim against the vehicle maker if a faulty safety feature made your injuries worse, even when another driver caused the crash. Recall records can also help show whether the maker knew about a safety problem before the collision.
When a faulty part adds to your injuries
Georgia allows claims when a defect in a vehicle makes your injuries worse during a crash. You have to show that the defect played a substantial part in causing injuries beyond what the collision itself would have caused.
A faulty part alone does not prove that the vehicle maker caused the extra harm. Evidence from the vehicle and your medical records could help show how the defect affected your injuries. The focus is on what the defect did to you, not simply whether the part failed.
What a recall can tell you
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration lets you search your vehicle identification number for recalls. A matching result means your vehicle falls within a safety recall.
Federal rules require vehicle makers to notify registered owners about recalls. If you never received a required notice, that failure might matter if the unrepaired defect later contributed to your injuries. You would still have to show how the missed warning connects to the harm you suffered.
Keep Georgia’s filing limits in mind
Georgia generally gives you two years to file a crash-related injury claim, and later symptoms do not by themselves restart that period. Some defect claims also face a separate 10-year limit tied to the vehicle’s first sale for use, while failure-to-warn claims follow a different rule. If an older wreck is causing lasting health problems, you may want to gather your crash records and vehicle papers and review the dates that apply.