Fire hazard: Ford recalls vehicles with fuel tank leak

Recall of Defective Ford Fuel Delivery Module:

Ford has issued a recall of a defective fuel leak in its 2013 model cars. Ford has already received over 600 complaints of fuel leakage in these cars. The first complaints came in October of 2012. Ford has spent the next months testing, and have now issued this recall. The recall affects approximately 465,000 2013 Fords worldwide: 390,000 vehicles in the U.S. and nearly 77,000 vehicles in global markets. The recall affects the following Ford vehicles: Explorer, Taurus, Flex, Fusion, Interceptor Utility, Interceptor Sedan, and Lincoln MSK, MKT and MKZ. Ford advises that if you detect the smell of gas or notice a leak, contact your dealer immediately. I say that may be too late. One leak can catch a spark and ignite your entire vehicle. If you own one of these vehicles, better to take it in now.

A fuel leak on brand new cars?  Really? How does this happen?

It's sometimes hard to believe how something like a defective fuel leak can happen today.  You buy a brand new car, you expect it to be safely designed and safely manufactured.  But it's not. Why? How much time did Ford spend testing the failing part within the gas tank that is the cause of the leak versus how much time has Ford spent on marketing the sale of these vehicles. Marketing budgets usually dwarf the budget for testing the soundness of a particular, but crucial, part.

Fortunately, Ford reports no fires from its defective product, at least not yet. Let's hope there will be none.

The risk is high:

We deal with the unfortunate aftermath resulting from defects just like this one. It's often times a horrible scene. One minute you are driving down the road and the next your car is engulfed in flames. We hope that spreading the word about this defect will help to save folks from ever having to experience such an ordeal.

Plaintiffs Attorneys ---Our role before and after disaster strikes:

When law students and younger lawyers  ask me about being a plaintiffs' lawyer, I point to stories just like this Ford recall. I tell them that if reading this story give you a fire in the belly, if you relish the opportunity to go after a big corporation in hopes that they'll do a better job to avoid putting a defective product into the market, and if you welcome the opportunity to try a case against fierce resistance, then this might be the line of work for you. Conversely, I tell them that if you could be equally happy billing hours no matter the issue in dispute, working on cases that are a virtual certainty to never make it to a courtroom, then there are plenty of other types of litigation out there for you.

For plaintiffs' lawyers its much more than that. We represent persons who did nothing wrong. We seek to play our part in making products safer. One way we play our part is by filing a lawsuit when someone gets injured. Another way is to alert consumers about defective products that have yet to cause them harm.

Fire hazard: Ford recalls vehicles with fuel tank leak

Recall of Defective Ford Fuel Delivery Module:

Ford has issued a recall of a defective fuel leak in its 2013 model cars. Ford has already received over 600 complaints of fuel leakage in these cars. The first complaints came in October of 2012. Ford has spent the next months testing, and have now issued this recall. The recall affects approximately 465,000 2013 Fords worldwide: 390,000 vehicles in the U.S. and nearly 77,000 vehicles in global markets. The recall affects the following Ford vehicles: Explorer, Taurus, Flex, Fusion, Interceptor Utility, Interceptor Sedan, and Lincoln MSK, MKT and MKZ. Ford advises that if you detect the smell of gas or notice a leak, contact your dealer immediately. I say that may be too late. One leak can catch a spark and ignite your entire vehicle. If you own one of these vehicles, better to take it in now.

A fuel leak on brand new cars?  Really? How does this happen?

It's sometimes hard to believe how something like a defective fuel leak can happen today.  You buy a brand new car, you expect it to be safely designed and safely manufactured.  But it's not. Why? How much time did Ford spend testing the failing part within the gas tank that is the cause of the leak versus how much time has Ford spent on marketing the sale of these vehicles. Marketing budgets usually dwarf the budget for testing the soundness of a particular, but crucial, part.

Fortunately, Ford reports no fires from its defective product, at least not yet. Let's hope there will be none.

The risk is high:

We deal with the unfortunate aftermath resulting from defects just like this one. It's often times a horrible scene. One minute you are driving down the road and the next your car is engulfed in flames. We hope that spreading the word about this defect will help to save folks from ever having to experience such an ordeal.

Plaintiffs Attorneys ---Our role before and after disaster strikes:

When law students and younger lawyers  ask me about being a plaintiffs' lawyer, I point to stories just like this Ford recall. I tell them that if reading this story give you a fire in the belly, if you relish the opportunity to go after a big corporation in hopes that they'll do a better job to avoid putting a defective product into the market, and if you welcome the opportunity to try a case against fierce resistance, then this might be the line of work for you. Conversely, I tell them that if you could be equally happy billing hours no matter the issue in dispute, working on cases that are a virtual certainty to never make it to a courtroom, then there are plenty of other types of litigation out there for you.

For plaintiffs' lawyers its much more than that. We represent persons who did nothing wrong. We seek to play our part in making products safer. One way we play our part is by filing a lawsuit when someone gets injured. Another way is to alert consumers about defective products that have yet to cause them harm.

Trabajadoras Enfrentan Violación, Acoso En El Estado de Washington y otras partes de EE.UU. Industria Agricultura

Anoche vi un programa potente sobre los abusos que lost trabajadores del campo sufren.  Muchas veces los mayordomos  estan encargados de personas que no tienen documentacion legal.  Y de ahi muchas veces comienzan los abusos.   Este programa demuestra ejemplos de varias latinas que han sufrido acoso sexual, hasta violaciones de parte de estos mayordomos.  Uno de los ejemplos ocurrio aqui en el estado de Washington.

En Washington o en qualquier parte de EE.UU, ninguna mujer  con estatus "legal" or no, tiene que aguantar estos abusos.   Las companias tienen que ser responsables para proteger cada una de sus empleadas.  Esta historia es triste, pero a la vez es muy importante.  Os la recomiendo.

Trabajadoras Enfrentan Violación, Acoso En EE.UU. Industria Agricultura

Trabajadoras Enfrentan Violación, Acoso En El Estado de Washington y otras partes de EE.UU. Industria Agricultura

Anoche vi un programa potente sobre los abusos que lost trabajadores del campo sufren.  Muchas veces los mayordomos  estan encargados de personas que no tienen documentacion legal.  Y de ahi muchas veces comienzan los abusos.   Este programa demuestra ejemplos de varias latinas que han sufrido acoso sexual, hasta violaciones de parte de estos mayordomos.  Uno de los ejemplos ocurrio aqui en el estado de Washington.

En Washington o en qualquier parte de EE.UU, ninguna mujer  con estatus "legal" or no, tiene que aguantar estos abusos.   Las companias tienen que ser responsables para proteger cada una de sus empleadas.  Esta historia es triste, pero a la vez es muy importante.  Os la recomiendo.

Trabajadoras Enfrentan Violación, Acoso En EE.UU. Industria Agricultura

Seattle fails to provide safe routes for bicyclists

The front page of today's Seattle Times should be a wake-up call to our government officials: our streets are not safe for bicyclists. Bicycle safety expert John Pucher, a professor at Rutgers University, recently biked the Seattle streets. He points out that it's actually more dangerous to ride in downtown Seattle than it is in Manhattan. Professor Pucher had five or six very close calls on Second Avenue, where he points out that the bicyclists need to be on a path that is separated from cars.

Professor Pucher's larger point is that we are way behind other cities, like Austin, Texas, in making safe space for cyclists. I lived in Austin when they started their bike friendly movement. In no time, they reworked the  city to accommodate cyclists. Seattle can do the same. In fact, looking at how other cities and, in particular, other countries create and maintain bike routes is critical for Seattle. We fancy ourselves a modern, liberal, healthy lifestyle kind of a city. But until we actually make bicycle commuting a safe and inviting experience, we'll just be pretenders.

I'm grateful for the attention Professor Pucher has brought to this very important issue.   The better job we do creating safe spaces, the fewer injured cyclists we bicycle injury attorneys will need to help. That would be a beautiful thing. Whenever I hear of a cyclist going down, it has a personal impact on me and all folks who jump on their bikes.  It would be terrific if we could turn these words into action. We presently have a mayor who is a cyclist. If he accomplishes nothing else, let him propel Seattle forward into the  21st century, where bike commuting has a chance to be more common.