After receiving 160 reports of fires that resulted in 19 burn injuries and the death of a 15-year-old passenger, Polaris announced Tuesday that it would recall 130,000 recreational off-highway vehicles. [More]
injuries
Police: Woman Attacked Uber Car, Driver With Baseball Bat
By 2.15.16
When you make a living driving people around, you’re likely to run into a bad customer or two, from a driver being attacked by a passenger to a rider commandeering and then crashing the ride-hailing vehicle. A Chicago Uber driver experienced a not-so-great night on the town last week, when someone attacked him and his vehicle. [More]
Ford Recalls 313K Sedans Because Lights Are Necessary While Driving In The Dark
By 12.23.15
Six years after federal regulators originally closed an investigation into Ford sedans that contained headlights that could fail and four months after a new probe into the issue was opened, the automaker has issued a recall for 313,000 of the vehicles. [More]
Southwest Flight Veers Off Runway After Landing; Eight Injured
By 12.16.15
A 90-minute Southwest Airlines flight went smoothly for 133 passengers, at least until the plane landed in Nashville Tuesday night, veering off the runway and injuring eight people. [More]
Jury Awards $21.5M To Cruise Passenger Struck In The Head By Ship’s Sliding-Glass Doors
By 11.11.15
While automatic doors can be very useful — especially on a cruise ship where maybe you don’t want to go around touching too many door handles — they’re not only useless when they don’t work right, but they can hurt: a federal jury has ordered cruise line Holland America to fork over $21.5 million in damages to an Illinois man who suffered a minor brain injury when he was struck in the head by a ship’s sliding-glass door. [More]
Report: VW Failed To Disclose One Death, Three Injuries To Federal Regulator Database
By 11.2.15
Last month it was reported that Volkswagen may have skirted rules that require car manufacturers to report death and injury claims to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. A new analysis of the regulator’s database and lawsuits filed against the company show it failed to report at least one death and three injuries involving its vehicles. [More]
Mazda Recalls 1.2M Vehicles Because Grease In The Ignition Can Cause A Fire
By 10.23.15
If you have an older Mazda that still runs like a champ, listen up: the car company is recalling nearly 1.2 million vehicles made in the 1990s because of defective ignition switches. [More]
Nearly One-In-10 Takata Airbag Ruptures Results In Death
By 10.22.15
Nearly one-in-10 driver’s side Takata airbag ruptures results in a death, federal regulators revealed during a meeting to discuss the massive recall of shrapnel-shooting devices. [More]
Report: VW May Have Underreported Deaths, Injuries Related To Vehicle Accidents
By 10.8.15
Car manufacturers are required under law to report death and injury claims to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Those figures allow the regulatory agency to identify potentially fatal and dangerous defects. In the last year, the federal agency has investigated reporting inaccuracies related to Honda and Fiat Chrysler. Now, a new report shows that Volkswagen – in the midst of an emissions scandal – may have underreported deaths and injuries relate to its vehicles. [More]
Thirteen Manufacturers Recall 1.3 Million Bikes Over Quick-Release Lever Crash Hazard
By 9.30.15
Thirteen companies are recalling nearly 1.3 million bicycles equipped with front disc brakes and quick-release levers that can cause the front tire to lock up or completely separate from the bike, posing an increased risk of injury to riders. [More]
Tempered Glass Shower Doors Are Shattering For No Reason
By 9.23.15
The appealing feature of tempered glass is that it is supposed to not break into giant jagged shards that can injure you, but it’s not supposed to shatter in the first place. That’s what makes it an appealing material for, say, shower doors. Yet there’s a rare and terrifying problem: shower doors spontaneously shattering, sometimes while a person is showering, resulting in wet, naked, injured people. [More]
Turbulence On Hawaii-To-Philippines Flight Leaves 15 Injured
By 9.18.15
More than a dozen passengers flying from Hawaii to the Philippines on Friday were injured when the plane hit an unusually rough patch of air. [More]
Former Airline Catering Employee Sues American Airlines After Cargo Box Falls On Him
By 8.25.15
Depending on your job, going to work each day might entail putting yourself in harm’s way. However, most of us probably don’t envision going about our daily tasks and having a nearly 700-pound cargo box fall on us. But that’s exactly what happened to a Houston man, and now he’s suing American Airlines. [More]
American Airlines Plane Evacuated With Emergency Slides, Three Passengers Burned
By 7.31.15
An American Airlines flight pulling away from the gate at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport on Thursday was evacuated with the use of emergency slides, resulting in minor injuries for three passengers. [More]
Airlines Testing New Software To Avoid Extreme Turbulence, Cut Down On Costs And Injuries
By 7.15.15
I’ll be the first to admit it, I’m a terrible flyer — the slightest hint of a bumpy patch and I’ve got a death-grip on the arm rest. While pilots do everything they can to avoid hitting any kind of rough air, they’ll be getting a bit more help via new software designed for the sole purpose of allowing them to sidestep turbulence. [More]
Regulators Open Investigation Into Another Airbag Maker Over Possible Rupture Defect
By 7.14.15
As the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration continues to investigate why millions of Takata-produced airbag inflators have a tendency to spew pieces of shrapnel with enough force to injure or kill occupants, the agency has opened a second probe into another airbag manufacturer for similar rupture issues. [More]
Report: Injuries Related To Bounce Houses, Other Inflatable Attractions, On The Rise
By 3.6.15
Is it every kid’s dream to go flying through the air, light as a bird, only to land safely on a soft surface? Perhaps. But that doesn’t mean that all of those inflatable bounce houses, castles, slides and other amusements are necessarily safe for children, and a federal agency is pointing to a rise in injuries on such attractions to make sure parents are aware of the risks. [More]
Study: More Kids Injured, Hospitalized After Gobbling Tiny Magnets Since 2009
By 5.20.14
Magnets. They can be fun toys, cute souvenirs, useful money-saving tools, or a life-threatening health hazard. Yes, it’s rare, but a study that will soon be published in the Journal of Pediatrics shows that in the last decade, strong and tiny magnets have become popular, are marketed as toys, and injuries resulting from magnet consumption have increased. [More]
