Texas Injury Lawyer Blog

Fireworks are a long-standing tradition on July 4th. However, they can also be highly dangerous, especially if not handled appropriately. Recently, tragedy hit the Comanche area when one person was killed and four others injured in a fireworks accident.

The accident occurred when Kiwanis Club members were preparing fireworks for the 4th of July celebration the morning beforehand, on a baseball field near a high school. A trailer holding most of the fireworks suddenly exploded. The cause is not yet clear. One person was confirmed dead and the other four were rushed to the burn unit of Comanche County Medical Center, with injuries ranging from first to third-degree burns, mostly on their hands. All 4th of July activities were canceled as a result. This would have been the 24th year that the fireworks were held, and the event usually drew as many as 15,000 people.

There is no evidence as to whether the fireworks had been mishandled before they were placed in the van, or whether they were simply defective. However, this is just the latest in a series of serious accidents caused by fireworks. In 2011 alone, they caused an estimated 17,800 reported fires, including 1,200 structure fires, 400 vehicle fires, and 16,300 outside fires. These fires led to eight deaths, 40 injuries, and $32 million in property damage. In 2012, an estimated 8,700 people went to emergency rooms across the country due to fireworks-related injuries. Of these injuries, more than 55 percent were to extremities and 31 percent were to the head. The risk was highest for those between the ages of 15 and 24, followed by children under the age of 10.

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It appears as though General Motors is not the only major automaker to order recalls of thousands of its automobiles. Now Japanese automakers Mazda, Honda, and Nissan have ordered recalls as well. Between the three, more than three million vehicles were slated to be recalled, due to faulty airbags supplied by Takata Corporation, a parts manufacturer.

The recalls specifically targeted vehicles that were sold in states with high absolute humidity in the southern United States, including Texas. The reason was because the front air bag inflators contained a defect that could cause them to explode. If air bags deploy with too much pressure, they can rupture, resulting in a failure to protect the vehicle occupants from injury.

The three automakers decided to order recalls after receiving information about the issue from Takata Corporation. This recall supplements one that was enacted in 2013, which affected as many as six million vehicles, including those manufactured by Mazda, Honda, and Nissan. For the current recall, Honda estimates that more than two million vehicles sold in the United States are affected. Nissan and Mazda have previously recalled 750,000 and 160,000 vehicles respectively.

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The Texas Court of Appeals of the First District recently affirmed a trial court’s summary judgment motion against a plaintiff injured by an air compressor box at Lowe’s.

In Carpenter v. Campbell Hausfeld Company, Dwayne Carpenter was shopping for an air compressor at a nearby Lowe’s store in 2009. He tried to load a 1.2 HP 20-Gallon 125 PSI Electric Air Compressor, manufactured by Campbell Hausfeld, into his cart when the strap surrounding the compressor box suddenly broke. The box fell on Carpenter and sent him to the floor, causing him to injure his leg, left hip, arm, and shoulder.

Afterward, Carpenter filed a strict product liability lawsuit against the air compressor’s manufacturer, claiming that the strap was designed defectively, which made the air compressor unreasonably dangerous. In turn, Campbell Hausfeld filed for summary judgment, claiming that Carpenter had provided no evidence to support his lawsuit. Campbell Hausfeld put forth the elements of strict products liability, followed by the elements of a claim premised on a design defect and the statutory requirements for proving a “safer alternative design.” The manufacturer argued that Carpenter not only did not produce evidence of a product defect, but it also failed to produce evidence of a safer alternative design. Campbell Hausfeld argued further that Carpenter failed to argue that its actions were the cause of his injuries, or provide evidence of any damages.

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