Volvo Car Safety Failure

My question involves an injury that occurred in the state of: Kentucky

My girlfriend was in an accident where she owns a 2001 Volvo S40 and rear ended a Ford Focus on a highway going about 35 MPH.

The wreck caused about 7,200 dollars worth of damage to her car and she will have to total her car. The car is sitting at the repair shop where an insurance adjuster has already done an estimation stating that the car is totaled.

The reason for the accident is the brakes failed in the car when trying to stop. When she hit, the seat belt did not activate and the air bar also did not deploy. Because of this, she hit her chest on the steering wheel hard enough to bruise both sides of her chest. The medical diagnosis was simply a chest wall contusion and Musculo-skeletal pain. Pretty light injuries fortunately.

My question is, due the fact that this is a massive failure of the safety system, what liability does Volvo have to this? We did talk to a lawyer and he said that liability cases cost 500,000 dollars and usually have to involve major injuries. If this is the case, do car makers have the ability to roll the dice until a major accident happens and someone is really hurt?

Last question, does anyone know how to get in contact with a Volvo safety department? I'm wondering if they care about this or want to see it.

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Quoting Mishra

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My question is, due the fact that this is a massive failure of the safety system, what liability does Volvo have to this? We did talk to a lawyer and he said that liability cases cost 500,000 dollars and usually have to involve major injuries. If this is the case, do car makers have the ability to roll the dice until a major accident happens and someone is really hurt?

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Yup. Ever hear of the Ford Pinto? They are not the only ones, just one of the more famous.

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Quoting Mishra

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Last question, does anyone know how to get in contact with a Volvo safety department? I'm wondering if they care about this or want to see it.

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I'm sure a Volvo dealer could point you in the right direction. They may be interested, at least to rule out mechanical failure as a cause.

the truth is; you have not listed anything that was necessarily a product liability issue.

brakes failed on a 2001? Ok, why did they fail?

seat belt didn't activate; not sure what you mean with that.

air bag did not deploy: you would need the design engineering specs to see if the forces within the crash were even intended to cause the bag to deploy.


There is a lot of investigation needed just to figure out if you have any basis for an action. Since her injuries do not appear to be serious, it, more than likely, is not worth the effort (read: money) to initiate such an investigation.

Thanks for the reply freeman.

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the truth is; you have not listed anything that was necessarily a product liability issue.

brakes failed on a 2001? Ok, why did they fail?

seat belt didn't activate; not sure what you mean with that.

air bag did not deploy: you would need the design engineering specs to see if the forces within the crash were even intended to cause the bag to deploy.

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Don't know why the brakes failed. The seat belt didn't engage, thus making her have to stop with her chest.

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There is a lot of investigation needed just to figure out if you have any basis for an action. Since her injuries do not appear to be serious, it, more than likely, is not worth the effort (read: money) to initiate such an investigation.

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Why does it take serious injury to make a company liable for their defects? Although you played devils advocate in most of the issues, there is still the common sense fact that all 3 safety systems failed which is obviously some product defect unless a truly strange coincidence happened (which I don't rule out).

If she tried to stop on the interstate (which she was about to be on) then she could have been majorly injured. I'm not really looking for money here. I understand that a bruise isn't worth 34 million dollars in pain and suffering and anguish. The type of 'punishment' if you will could vary, but it just seems something should be done. More audits, sue to a charity, or at least force them to investigate the car and possibly issue recalls if they find something obviously wrong.

Understand that I'm just talking the common sense side here.. I can't speak at all for the legal side. That's why I have to probe for information. :)

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Why does it take serious injury to make a company liable for their defects? Although you played devils advocate in most of the issues, there is still the common sense fact that all 3 safety systems failed which is obviously some product defect unless a truly strange coincidence happened (which I don't rule out).

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first, the brake failure could be from many things that the manufacturer would not be liable for. I would be willing to bet it had nothing to do with manufacturer liability on a 2001 model car.

so, if the brake failure was due to something other than something other than manufacturer would have liability for, whoever was responsible for the failure would be liable for the accident.

then, to the airbag; unless you know what it takes to make an airbag deploy and those forces were exceeded, what happened may be totally correct. Airbags are not designed to deploy under all situations.

as to the belt; I'm presuming you mean it didn't lock. That's all well and good but that alone is not proof there was a problem with the belt caused by the manufacturer. It's the closest thing you have to suggest any liability for her damages (to herself, not the car) because those damages are so minimal, it wouldn't be worth spending 10's if not 100's of thousands of dollars to prove it was the manufacturers fault.

the belt and airbag issue have nothing to do with the damages to the car. That is totally on the brake issue and until you prove it was manufacturers defect, you have nothing.

If I were Volvo's attorney, I would also have you prove how you have kept the Volvo's safety equipment in tip top condition as per the owner's manual. Do you have full records of that maintenance?

If you don't know why the brakes failed then do you at least know who was the last shop to work on them? The car is 10 years old, I'm sure the brake pads were replaced at least once and that the brake fluid was flushed every 4 years.

It would be better for you if the dealer was the last shop that changed the brakes, inspected the rotors, calipers, brake lines, master cylinder and other brake parts. Because if the dealer wasn't, you know what there lawyers are going to argue in court, right?

Has the dealer done all the recommended maintenance? Flush and replace brake fluid? Replace brake lines?

You said:

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The reason for the accident is the brakes failed in the car when trying to stop

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Are you sure the accident didn't happen because your girlfriend wasn't speeding, not paying attention or following to closely? This will be argued in court also.

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When she hit, the seat belt did not activate

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Can you explain this? I mean I have never heard of a seatbelt not working.

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the air bar also did not deploy

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jk is right, air bags do not just deploy because of an accident. The impact of that accident needs to come into contact with a sensor that is placed within certain parts of the front bumper. If the front left or right side by any of the headlights was the main impact area, then the airbags weren't deployed because airbag sensors aren't placed within that area.

$7,200 is a lot of damage and if your girlfriend rear ended another vehicle without swerving away from the vehicle and striking it with the left or right front of the car and hit it dead on with the front bumper by the license plate, then I don't see why the airbags weren't deployed. Was the vehicle ever in a front end accident and the airbags were deployed then? If so, Volvo's lawyers will argue that the auto body shop is to blame why there wasn't no deployment.

See, it's going to cost your girlfriend a ton of money to bring a suit against a large corporation like Volvo.

I don't think that $7,200 is a lot for an accident of this type, actually. Although I'm skeptical that the accident occurred at a full 35 MPH, similarly but probably to a greater extent than most other manufacturers, Volvo has refined front crumple zones such that at an accident at about that speed the front of the car will crush while leaving the passenger compartment intact. When you accordion the front of your car, you get a big repair bill (or a totaled car).

Something to keep in mind here is that airbags are not soft pillows - they're filled explosively by hot gas. It's a trade-off. People have their lives saved by airbags, but may suffer bruising, hand injuries or even burns from their deployment. You don't want to design a car such that the airbags are triggered unnecessarily.

I assume that the seat belt issue is simply mechanical - the shoulder strap is supposed to lock when you pull sharply forward on the belt (such as might occur in an accident) and for some reason that didn't happen in the accident. It shouldn't be difficult to determine if the seat belt was defectively manufactured or if it was damaged.

When you hear about multiple, independent systems simultaneously failing on a vehicle - here, the seat belts, the brakes and the airbags - you have to wonder about how well the vehicle has been maintained. That said, there is a (singular) report of a similar issue with airbags and seat belts.

Volvo's contact information is here. The NHTSA takes reports of vehicle safety defects here.

If his girlfriend is petite, she may have been sitting just a few inches away from the steering wheel? If so, then her chest had hit the steering wheel by the time the seat belt had locked.

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Quoting Who'sThatGuy

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If his girlfriend is petite, she may have been sitting just a few inches away from the steering wheel? If so, then her chest had hit the steering wheel by the time the seat belt had locked.

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very true and honestly in such a situation, an air bag deployment could actually cause more injury.