Door Latch Defects

Ford acknowledged in its recall that:

In affected vehicles, a frozen door latch or a bent or kinked actuation cable may result in a door that will not open or will not close condition. Should a customer be able to open and close the door with these conditions, the door may appear closed, but the latch may not fully engage the door striker with the potential that the door could open while driving, increasing the risk of injury.

The Ford pickup defective door latch recall is one example of vehicles being driven on the road today that have defective doors for either driver or passengers which may cause serious harm or even death. There have been other, earlier door latch recalls involving huge numbers of vehicles including Ford Escapes, Five Hundreds, Ford Fiestas, Mercury Montegos, and Ford Transit Vans.

Of course, there may be serious injuries caused by a defective door latch that has not been the subject of recall.

Defective Door Latch Systems

During a crash, the door performs a vital safety function. It shields the occupants from being ejected from the vehicle during impact. It keeps occupants from falling from the wreckage, suffering additional harm, after the crash.

A properly designed latching system keeps doors closed. The latching system includes an outside handle, an inside handle, outside linkage, inside linkage, a latch, a striker, springs, and locks.

Defects in the door latching system include:

• Handles that break
• Handles that open or actuate in a crash
• Linkage that bends and opens the latch
• Latches that break or open in a crash
• Lack of a secondary latching system (safety latch).

With a defective door latch, serious injuries can be sustained during a crash or even when the vehicle jerks into a turn, or the driver slams on the brakes.

If the door latch fails, the occupant can be ejected from the moving vehicle and the force of the ejection alone can cause serious bodily injury in a situation that would have otherwise resulted in minor harm or the occupant escaping without any injury whatsoever.