Many consumers throughout Georgia purchase used vehicles when it comes time to buy a car. Purchasing a used vehicle can be a smart financial choice because you do not have to pay a new car premium and used cars often allow you to get far more bang for your buck. However, when you are buying a used car, you need to be very careful to avoid potential pitfalls that could affect your safety. Just recently, the Huffington Post published an article warning about some of the dangers of used cars and alerting motorists to the fact that they could be at increased risk of accident from certain used vehicles.
Whether you buy a new or used car, it is important to understand what your rights are if a problem with a vehicle causes an accident to happen. Collision victims should be entitled to compensation from a car manufacturer if a defect in the vehicle is the direct cause of a collision or if a defect in a vehicle makes the injuries which are sustained in a collision more serious than they would have been had the car performed as expected. An Atlanta Atlanta defective product attorney can provide assistance in pursuing a defective product case if there was a problem with a new or used vehicle.
Risks of Atlanta Accidents from Used Cars
According to the Huffington Post, buying a used car has become a risky proposition because of the substantial number of auto accident recalls that have gone on in recent years. Over the course of 2014, there were more vehicle recalls received by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration than had been recalled in the past three decades. A total of 63.95 million cars were recalled in 2014.
Some of these cars that were recalled were newer models who had been on the market only for a short time. Many others, however, were already older used cars that people had been driving for years. In some of the recalls involving older cars, evidence suggested manufacturers had intentionally hidden reports of defects and problems to avoid recalls, even when people were getting hurt.
Many of the recalls that have been occurring in recent years are happening because of truly dangerous defects, and are occurring after deaths or serious injuries have already happened. People who drive these cars are in danger, and everyone on the roads is in danger if the car goes out of control and a crash happens.
Used car buyers are particularly vulnerable to the risks of an accident due to a used car with a defect. Not only are there millions of used cars that were affected by recalls, but there are also lots of older vehicles that were never fixed despite the active recalls. Car buyers often assume that if they are purchasing a used car with a recall, that the necessary repairs have been made. These car buyers don’t know to get the issue fixed themselves, and they continue to drive a ticking time bomb with a known problem that could flare up at any minute to cause a collision to occur.
The Atlanta injury lawyers at Van Sant Law, LLC can represent victims after an accidental injury. Call today at (800) 234-9556 or contact us online to schedule your free consultation.
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