One of the most frightening things about defective products is that the defect may not be readily apparent. You could be using a defective product at this very moment and not even know it. In most instances, the defects aren’t known at first, and if a defect is found, the product is recalled, but if you aren’t looking, you might not know that a product is being recalled. For example, if you drive a Hyundai Santa Fe SUV, a Hyundai Veracruz or a mid-size Hyundai Sonata sedan, your life could be at risk.
Hyundai is recalling over 400,000 vehicles of these types due to various issues. It was discovered that the front coil springs of Santa Fe SUVs manufactured between 2001 and 2006 are susceptible to cracking in cold weather states, including New York. The Veracruz vehicles manufactured from 2007 to 2012 could suffer from oil leaks that might cause the vehicle to lose power. Finally, the Sonata sedans that were manufactured from 2011 to 2014 could face leaking brake fluid or possible defective transmission shift cables.
These defects could easily cause serious accidents and place the life of the occupants at risk, which is why Hyundai is recalling the vehicles. However, these vehicles have been on the market for years, some for more than a decade. It’s entirely possible that these noted issues caused a few accidents throughout the years, and the victims of those issues were set up for failure because of their defective vehicles.
What you should know is that the law protects victims who are injured because of defective products. On oversight on the part of the manufacturer is not something that a consumer should have to suffer for. If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident involving one of these vehicles, or in any scenario in which you believe a product defect might have contributed to your harm, you may be entitled to compensation.
Source: Tech Times, “Hyundai recalls 419,000 vehicles for various defects,” Menchie Mendoza, August 3, 2014