BMW Issues Major Recall as Doors May Open While Driving

According to a recent news article from Autoweek, BMW has issued a major recall of 45,000 older 7 Series vehicles.  These sedans were made between 2005 and 2008, and all feature what the company called Comfort Access and Soft Close automatic doors.  These doors are designed to close softly rather than slamming closed, as many other car doors do.  This was considered a luxury feature at the time these cars were manufactured.

While this is the first door recall for the cars made during those specific model year vehicles, it is not the first recall involving these automatic-closing doors.  The company’s 2012 vehicles also featured a version of these doors, and a major recall was issued.  The reason for all of these recalls involving this type of luxury door is because customers have reported the doors opening by themselves while the car was traveling at highway speeds.  In some cases, the doors could come off, causing serious personal injury to those in other vehicles, as the door could cause significant damage. Fortunately, there have been no reports of serious injury as of this point.  The company is urging all drivers and passengers to make sure their seat belts are fastened until they can get the doors fixed, so they do not get ejected from the vehicle should the doors fall off at highway speeds. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been monitoring this situation since the 2012 recall and was instrumental in recommending this latest recall.

As our Boston products liability lawyers can explain, one of the more common claims in a defective products lawsuit is failure to warn of a known danger.  This means that a company knew or should have known of a dangerous aspect of the product and failed to warn consumers of this problem.  This can mean that a company knew of a serious problem and chose not to issue a recall.

There are a variety of ways your experienced defective products lawyers can establish this. During the discovery process, your attorney can issue requests for the product of documents and depose various witnesses from the company.   As many of these cases are filed in federal court, your lawyer can use Rule 34 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) to request documents.

However, when we think of documents, we tend to think of paper documents.  These days there are many more electronic documents, and what is known as e-discovery has become necessary.  This is because your attorney can request every email, instant message, text message, or any other type of electronic record that he or she can demonstrate is relevant to your case.  For this reason, we may be dealing with large volumes of electronic records to find the proof you need to win your case.  You want to make sure your attorney has experience dealing with cases against a large company and has a well-trained and dedicated staff to assist him or during the process of proving a defective products lawsuit against a large corporation.

The company often has a great deal of resources to wage a legal battle, so you want make sure your lawyer has his or her own team.

If you are the victim of Massachusetts product liability, call Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers for a free and confidential appointment — (617) 777-7777.

Additional Resources:

Recall alert: 2005-08 BMW 7-Series doors may open while driving, May 29, 2017, Autoweek

More Blog Entries:
New Total Knee Replacement Technology Helps Surgeons and Patients Alike, Nov. 25, 2015, Boston Hip Replacement Lawyer Blog