Weston Products Liability Lawyer Weighs in on Suzuki ATV Recall

On March 10th, Suzuki initiated a recall of approximately 29,000 units of its Suzuki KingQuad ATV model. There have been reports of fuel leaks and even fires with the models listed below. If these ATVs are defective, then this could be a very serious products liability issue since the fires could potentially cause injury to the owners. As of last Thursday, Suzuki had received 19 reports of fuel leaks and luckily there haven’t been any injuries. As a Products Liability Attorney in Weston, the lack of injuries is great news and hopefully the recall will prevent any owner from suffering injuries.

The plastic fuel tanks were “improperly manufactured”, which lead to reports of fuel leaks and that is also the reason for the potential of a fire. As a Weston Products Liability Attorney, I know several people in the South Florida area who own ATVs, so I wanted to advise everyone about this recall. Anyone who owns one of the models listed below should contact Suzuki to schedule a repair of their defective product.

The Suzuki ATV recall affects the following models:

• 2008-2010 LT-A450X
• 2009-2010 LT-A500X
• 2008-2010 LT-A750X
• 2011 LT-A500X
• 2011 LT-A750X’s dated prior to December 11, 2010

As I’ve discussed before, I always think it is a smart business and legal decision for a company to recall a defective product prior to any incidents of injury or harm. Even though there may be short term costs, in the long run, this is the best thing to do in order to limit their liability. From a public relations standpoint, this also shows that the company cares about its customers and it should help to build some goodwill, which is always a valuable asset for any business.

Had the company failed to notify the CPSC and its customers, the consequences could have been much more serious, possibly resulting in wrongful death lawsuits. If people had gotten hurt as a result of the “improperly manufactured” fuel tank, then Suzuki could also have had to deal with a products liability lawsuit for breaching its duty of care between itself and its customers. In this hypothetical scenario, Suzuki could have been found liable for any ATV owners’ injuries and a products liability lawyer would have argued that the company was negligent in their design of the ATVs.

In summation, if you own any of the ATV models listed above, please contact Suzuki to arrange a free repair so that all injuries can be avoided.