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Motor Vehicle Injuries: The Law and the Profits

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 April 2021

Leon S. Robertson
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Extract

Motor vehicle injury in the United States constitutes the leading cause of death during more than half of the normal lifespan: from a few months after birth until 40 years of age. The number of deaths from motor vehicles in the U.S. annually during the 1980s has ranged from 5 1,000 to 43,000, approximately equal to the total deaths of U.S. combatants in the entire Vietnam War. In addition, millions of people each year are the victims of nonfatal motor vehicle injury and thousands become permanently disabled and dependent for the remainder of their lives as a result of brain, spinal cord and other damage incurred in motor vehicle crashes.

During the first half of this century, the manufacturers of motor vehicles successfully evaded responsibility for the damage done by their products. Although the increased risk of motor vehicle travel compared to horse-drawn vehicle and train travel was recognized by 1905, vehicle manufacturers and “safety experts” (often allied in symbiotic associations) managed to define the problem as mainly one of errant drivers.

Type
Article
Information
Law, Medicine and Healthcare , Volume 17 , Issue 1 , Spring 1989 , pp. 69 - 72
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 1989

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