Were You in a Car Accident that Caused a Vehicle Fire?

A person should never survive a crash only to be burned alive in a vehicle fire. When vehicle fires happen after a collision, fuel system defects could be the cause.

According to the U.S. Fire Administration, post-collision fires are the leading cause of vehicle-related deaths. These fires often occur in accidents that may have caused only minor injuries, but instead resulted in severe burn injuries and death because the vehicle had a fuel system defect such as:

Lack of anti-siphoning valves.

Lack of fuel filler tube check valves.

Misrouting of fuel lines.

Failure to protect fuel lines.

Placement of the fuel tank within the vehicle’s crush zone

Choose a Firm That’s Won Multi-Million Dollar Verdicts in Fuel-Fed Fire Cases

Langdon & Emison’s national reputation in auto product liability litigation is firmly grounded in the results our trial attorneys have obtained in fuel-fed fire cases across the country, including the landmark case of Baker v. General Motors, which resulted in a unanimous decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. Our firm has three decades of experience taking on the world’s largest vehicle manufacturers in fuel-fed fire cases, including the examples below:

$26.4 million verdict – Wasilik v. Ford, Fuel Siphoning After Compromise of Fuel System

A head-on collision resulted in a fuel-fed fire when gasoline siphoned out of the fuel tank after the initial impact, causing serious burns to those involved. Our client was awarded $26.4 million for the severe burns he suffered. At the time, this tort verdict was the largest awarded in Maryland.

$11.3 million – Baker v. General Motors, U.S. Supreme Court Landmark Case, Lack of Anti-Siphoning Device

Two adults burned to death in a post-collision fuel-fed fire because the car was not equipped with an anti-siphoning device. This case was the first in the country to have admitted into evidence what has been termed the “Ivey Memo,” in which a General Motors engineer compared the cost of fixing fire-causing defects with the deaths that resulted from vehicle fires. GM concluded that it could only spend $2.25 per vehicle to prevent fires – after that, it was in GM’s economic interests to pay wrongful death lawsuits rather than fix the problems. The jury awarded $11.3 million to the victims’ family.