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WILLIS
LAW FIRM
1221 McKinney
Suite #3333
Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
(713) 654-4040
TOLL FREE
1(800)883-9858
1(800)468-4878
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Post Collision Fires & Fuel Fed Fire Cases
Every year thousands of innocent consumers suffer horribly disfiguring or
fatal burn injuries in post-collision fires .
Many of those injuries and deaths are caused by improperly designed fuel systems
which allow fuel to spill during the accident. Fuel systems should be designed
to maintain integrity during reasonably foreseeable accidents.We believe that a
person should not survive a crash only to be burned in a post-collision fire.
When that happens, we are prepared to pursue a fuel system defect case. We have
experience investigating and pursuing cases concerning fuel system design
defects which can involve fuel tank location, fuel filler cap design, filler
pipe protection and attachment, fuel line protection and routing, and fuel pump
shutoff switches.
Post Collision Fuel Fed Fires
In an automobile accident
or rollover a post collision fuel-fed fire can have catastrophic results for
occupants of these vehicles. These accidents may be rollovers, frontal
impact collision, side impact collision, and rear end collisons. Some common
fire related points of original or cause include:
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Fires from Fuel Tanks
under trunk floor.
Electric fuel pump
fires- lack of fuel (gas) cut off device
Lack of anti-siphoning
device to prevent contained gas flow after a collision
Fires from Seam Weld
Failure in the fuel tank.
Separation of the Fuel
lines from the fuel pump. Carburetor or Fuel Tank following a
collision.
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Puncture of the Fuel
Tank due to poorly designed structural members of the vehicle.
Fires from Side-Saddle
or Added Fuel Tanks, unprotected by the vehicle’s frame.
Fuel Pump Fires Electric Fuel Pump Continue to
Pump after Wreck
 Fuel
lines that are allowing fuel to escape from the fuel system can result in fuel
fed fires during a collision. Improper construction, as well as the location of
the fuel lines can make a fuel line leak more likely. Cars that contain electric
fuel pumps will continue to pump gas through the fuel system after an accident
because a defect allows fuel to be present allowing fires to occur.
Anti-siphoning
devices prevent fuel from siphoning from a fuel tank, thus preventing fuel from
igniting and causing a fuel fed fire. Manufacturers have yet to take safety
precautions by adding the device to vehicles. Siphoning usually allows the gas
to flow out very quickly due to the gravity.
Fuel Tank Design to Prevent Fuel Tank Fires and
Explosions
The majority of automotive fuel tanks are
constructed low carbon hot rolled sheet steel and protected from corrosion with
a material most known as “terne coating.”
Most tanks are stamped in two pieces (halves), fitted with the fuel line
fittings, and holes, with a steel baffle welded inside the tank.
Then the two halves are seem welded together to complete the tank. The
tanks are then pressure tested for leaks.
Fuel Tank Placement
The safest location for
fuel tanks is the area, which is least likely to be impacted or intruded during
a crash. Through years of studying
crashes, two locations have been formed to be the “safest.”
These are “over the rear axle and forward the rear axle” and
conversely, the two most dangerous locations have been the placement “rear
mounted under the floor pan” and side mounted outside vehicle’s protective
frame (see), because of the frequency of rear end collisions the rear mounted
fuel tanks under the floor pans are particularly dangerous due to close
proximity of the crash zone from rear end collisions.
Therefore, many manufacturers have been forced to move the tanks further
away from the rear bumper or provided protective shields to prevent their
rapture.
Fuel Tank Failures
Fuel Tanks and Fuel Systems fail due to
well-known and well-documented reasons:
1) Puncture
of the Fuel Tank
2) Tearing of the fuel Tank
3) Filter Pipe Separation from the
Tank
4) Filter Cap Separation
5) Hydrostatic Bursting (rare)
6) Fuel Line Separation from fuel
tank
7) Lack of Fuel Pump cutoff
8) Fuel Line Separation from tank
Prevention of Fuel Fed Fires- Alternative Fuel System
Designs
Relocation, location and/or
shielding of rupture or puncture are the single and most practical solution to
fuel fed fires. It is no secret
that the more potential for fires. Another
practical solution is the shielding or guarding from intrusions into the tank
zone. Beginning in 1977 in some
vehicles a high density, plastic shield was placed under or against the tank to
prevent puncture by the differential or drive draft during a collision. Other
designs included bladders located in the fuel tanks, high density polyethylene
plastic tanks and breakaway fittings on the filler pipe.
TALK TO A
LAWYER NOW
If you have a question regarding a
serious personal injury claim or the wrongful death of a friend or
family member, Call and talk to Mr. Willis a Board
Certified Personal Injury Trial Lawyer, certified by the Texas Board of Legal
Specialization.Call Now for a Free
Confidential Consultation at 1-800-883-9858 or 1-800-468-4878.
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 If
you or a loved one have been seriously injured then call us for
a Free Initial Consultation. Talk to a Board Certified Personal
Injury Trial Lawyer in Texas with over 20 years of personal
injury and wrongful death lawsuit experience. Know your rights
under the law. Call to find out your rights to a personal injury
claim,
wrongful death lawsuit or other legal action. Call Now or E-mail
us.
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No fees or expenses are ever charged to the client unless a personal
injury settlement is reached and agreed upon by the client.
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