Motorcycle accidents have the potential to cause serious harm to the rider. In most states, there are helmet laws in place to protect motorcyclists from severe injuries, but the problem is that although a helmet can help in some instances, they are typically not sufficient to save a motorcyclist from brain injury. If you were wearing a helmet and you were severely injured in Houston, and you think that your injuries may have been due to a defect in your helmet, then you might be able to sue the helmet manufacturer for product liability.
Product liability is a type of personal injury law that holds manufacturers responsible when their products don’t function as they should. The problem with devices like helmets is that there aren’t many industry standards that have been proven to have a better design. Although it has been concluded that helmets might help to save someone who would have otherwise died in a motorcycle accident, they do very little to curb brain injuries.
If you can find that the helmet that you were wearing has a discernible defect, then yes, you can sue the manufacturer directly. But you would need to prove in a court of law that it was the defect that led to the injury itself. If the helmet does not work properly, then you can make the case that it was the fault of the helmet and the way that it was marketed to the consumer.
Often, personal injury lawyers in Houston won’t take on the helmet industry – mostly because there is really no way to prove that the helmet did or did not work as effectively as it should have. It is extremely difficult for a personal injury lawyer to prove that a helmet didn’t do its job. If you collect from the insurance company for your accident, and you initiate a lawsuit against the helmet company, then you will likely have to pay the insurance company the costs they covered for your accident when you collect a settlement, so just keep that in mind.
Why would you want to pursue a helmet defect claim?
In most cases, your injuries are covered by your insurance company if you are in a motorcycle accident. But if you are significantly or permanently injured, if you are underinsured or the cost of your injuries is more than what you need to cover your financial situation, then it might behoove you to try a personal injury lawsuit against the helmet manufacturer in Houston.
There are times when you might get a helmet manufacturer to settle out of court to avoid a lengthy trial that can be costly to them and potentially come with bad publicity. Also, there are times when the helmet company will be fearful that if a defect is found, then there is the potential to open the company up to a plethora of lawsuits. If they are found guilty in a court of law, a helmet manufacturer can open themselves up to further litigation. If a lawyer has a reason to suspect that there is a defect, then they might want to try to find an expert who will testify to it. If they can, then it might be enough to scare the manufacturer into settling to avoid all the negative attention that can come from being in the spotlight.
If you were in a motorcycle accident in Houston and you were wearing a helmet, if your injury was severe, you might – or might not – have a case to sue the helmet manufacturer for product defect. Although it’s harder to find a lawyer who will take your case, it is not completely impossible. The best place to start is to interview a personal injury lawyer, either for yourself or your loved one who is injured. If you can find a motorcycle accident attorney in Houston willing to take your case, then you won’t have to pay them unless you can collect.
Proving that your helmet didn’t work the way it should have to protect you from injury is not an easy thing to do. But that does not mean that it can’t be done. Consult a personal injury lawyer to see if you have a potential case on your hands.