Defective Fuel Systems

Butler, Wooten & Fryhofer, LLP is one of the nations leading law firms for automotive fuel systems product liability litigation. If you or someone you know has been injured or killed as a result of a vehicle fire or explosion we have the experience and resources to maximize your recovery. Many people are harmed every day as a result of vehicle fires that should and could have been avoided through proper automotive design and manufacturing.

Despite the fact that automotive manufacturers have known for decades that it is dangerous to design fuel systems that easily rupture during collisions, many of these manufacturers continue to design fuel systems that are susceptible to failure in foreseeable accidents. Many recurring problems with fuel systems include: 

• the placement of fuel tanks in a place where they can easily be punctured during a collision (such as on the side or rear of a vehicle);
• the placement of fuel lines in positions where they can easily be pinched and ruptured during a wreck;
• the use of cheap or flimsy materials to connect the fuel tank to the fuel filler neck (where fuel is inserted in the vehicle), causing the two parts to separate and fuel to gush out during a collision; and
• the use of inadequate and unsafe materials to manufacture fuel lines, which ultimately causes the fuel lines to either decay or break during a wreck.  

A significant part of our practice is devoted to representing the innocent people who have been harmed in the horrific fires caused by one or more of the defective vehicles in a car accident. Many of our cases are referred to us by other lawyers who know that we have an established track record in these cases and have the resources and expertise to take on the automotive manufacturers and obtain justice for our clients.

Our attorneys have been on the forefront of automotive fuel systems litigation. We obtained a $105,000,000 verdict, the largest verdict in Georgia history at that time, in a case where a defective GM “side saddle” C/K pickup truck exploded and killed our clients’ son. This case received national headlines and brought much needed attention to the danger of GM “side saddle” pickups. Aside from representing numerous clients throughout the United States who were injured or killed as a result of post-collision fuel fed fires in GM C/K pickup trucks, we have also obtained significant results for our clients in fuel systems cases against a number of manufacturers, including Ford, Chevrolet, Chrysler, and Jeep. Learn more about our successes

In addition to the results we have achieved for our clients, we have also obtained significant court orders in automotive fuel systems cases. In one case involving a fire in a Chevrolet Chevette, our firm obtained a landmark ruling that GM and its lawyers engaged in crimes and fraud in an attempt to conceal evidence about an internal GM report written by Ed Ivey. Ivey’s report callously compared the costs of fixing the problems causing post collision fuel fed fires with the costs of compensating victims who had died during those fires.

If you or someone you know has been injured as a result of an automobile fire, you have come to the right place. We know how to try these cases to get the best possible results for our clients. Please contact us to set up a free consultation or to obtain additional information.