Langdon & Emison partner Brett Emison discussed the dangers of Takata airbags in a recent ABC investigative report that aired across 193 stations nationwide. The report featured Langdon & Emison client Joshua Reliford who lost his eye after the Takata airbag in the car he was driving exploded and shot shrapnel through the vehicle compartment.
ABC’s report examines the large amounts of money taken in regularly by the U.S government when federal fines are imposed on large corporations, like Takata, for manufacturing and selling defective products that injure consumers.
Last year, the federal government fined Japan-based Takata $1 billion for concealing information about faulty airbags that led to the deaths of more than X motorists and prompting the largest safety recall in U.S. history.
Emison explained why Takata airbags are so dangerous.
“You might have heard of ammonium nitrate,” Emison said. “It’s the explosive that Timothy McVeigh used to take down a federal building in Oklahoma City. That’s what they put in the airbags to inflate the bags.”
Despite the hefty fine imposed on Takata, L&E client Joshua Reliford never saw any of that money. According to the ABC report, what happened to Joshua is part of a common trend in the U.S. where corporations pay large fines that often don’t reach the victims impacted by the problem.
Langdon & Emison was pleased to represent Joshua and obtain a confidential settlement on his behalf.
Read more about the ABC news report.
About Brett Emison
Brett Emison is a partner at Langdon & Emison where his practice is focused almost exclusively on catastrophic injury and death cases as well as class action and other complex tort cases. His experience and expertise spans an array of personal injury litigation, including auto product defects; railroad crossing accidents; trucking accidents; and defective drugs and medical devices. Because of his vast experience, Emison is regularly published in national trade publications on product liability and other contemporary legal topics.
About Langdon & Emison
Langdon & Emison is recognized as one of the nation’s leading personal injury law firm, having taken on some of the world’s largest corporations on behalf of injured people and their families in courtrooms from coast to coast. Langdon & Emison represented the plaintiff in Baker vs. General Motors, a landmark lawsuit where for the first time evidence was admitted into court proving an automaker’s deliberate choice of profits over human safety. With offices in Lexington and Kansas City (Mo.), St. Louis, and Chicago, the firm has earned a national reputation as a leader in auto defect cases, trucking accidents and a full array of personal injury litigation.