Tracy Law Firm tests scenario
The Tracy Law Firm has conducted the first of three IIHS moderate-overlap crash tests designed to simulate collision repair conditions following a $42m lawsuit earlier this year.
The move follows a ruling by Dallas County jury which found John Eagle Collision Center failed to follow OEM repair procedures on a 2009 Honda Fit which was subsequently involved in a collision causing its occupants to be trapped. The ‘failure’ of the repair was namely the bonding of the roof panel rather than the use of the OEM specified welding procedure.
Attorney Todd Tracy’s clients Matthew and Marcia Seebachan had purchased the vehicle without prior knowledge of the repair.
The first test saw the Tracey Law Firm put a 2009 Honda Fit – similar to the Seebachan’s vehicle – through a 40mph, 40% driver’s side frontal crash test. The vehicle had been ‘repaired’ to mimic the conditions found on the Seebachan’s vehicle.
‘The vehicle crushed just like we expected,’ said Tracy in a statement.
He continued, ‘We never expected the roof to separate like in the Seebachan accident because we could never replicate the override crush.
‘What we expected would happen did happen with a glued on roof — the roof did not absorb energy properly and the frame rail below the driver crushed excessively which in turn destroyed the foot well space for the driver. Vehicles are linked together like links in a chain.’
The full results of the test are expected to be ready by the end of January 2018.
