Lawsuits save lives by holding wrongdoers accountable

Lawsuits resolve disputes between two sides of a conflict. They decide who is responsible and if the person found to be responsible owes money for damages or other compensation to the person who was injured.

But some lawsuits do more than settle claims between parties. They can also lead to major safety improvements that benefit many people.
The Center for Justice & Democracy at New York Law School recently released Lifesavers 2021: CJ&D’s Guide to Lawsuits that Protect Us All.

The study, published in January 2021, shows how lawsuits serve an important purpose by causing manufacturers, employers, polluters, hospitals, law enforcement and other entities to stop dangerous or negligent behavior. Recent cases brought against COVID-19 super-spreader establishments have led to safer workplaces. Other cases have resulted in the redesign or recall of a product, a change in hospital procedures, the protection of sexually-abused children or a cleaner environment.

Contrary to common belief, most jury verdicts are for modest amounts of monetary damages. But even though large jury awards are rare, they play an important role in keeping everyone safer. They send a warning that conduct that puts people in danger of being seriously injured or killed will not be tolerated.

Many auto safety problems became public because that information was uncovered in litigation. General Motors knew for a decade that millions of its cars had faulty ignition switches, resulting in power loss that caused the steering, brakes and air bags to fail.

It took a lawsuit by parents whose daughter was killed to prove the existence of this deadly defect. Faced with proof that it knew about the defect and hid it from the public, GM recalled millions of cars and paid close to a billion dollars in criminal fines for the safety failure that seriously injured or killed hundreds of people.

Other lawsuits forced trucking companies to improve their safety requirements for drivers. A truck driver on his cellphone and traveling too fast crashed into another vehicle, severely injuring the driver.

A lawsuit revealed that the truck driver had been on his cellphone for seven hours during his driving shift. As a result, the trucking company agreed to ban drivers from using cellphones while on the road.

In another instance, a tractor-trailer rear-ended a car, killing two people. The tractor-trailer was on cruise control at 65 mph on an icy road just before impact. The trucking company allowed drivers to use cruise control on icy roads to save money on truck fuel, in violation of federal safety regulations.

After a jury awarded the families of the deceased men $18.5 million, the trucking company changed its policy, training drivers that they can no longer use cruise control in bad weather. Accountability helps to keep you safe. If a citizen’s right to hold even the biggest corporations responsible for their wrongs is taken away, there is no incentive to act safely.