New Nissan Recalls: Thousands of Nissan Leafs Recalled to Dealer This Week

Another big car maker recalls its product this week. This time, it's Nissan. Seems that its cute little economical electric Leaf sedan has a big ignition glitch. That's right: the Leaf, which is reportedly becoming really, really popular here in the U.S. - at least by electric car standards - has a big flaw.

What's the problem with the Nissan Leaf?

Sometimes, Nissan Leafs won't start. Turn the ignition - zip. Leafs apparently just sit there.

So, Nissan is recalling all its little Leafs back to the dealer, so the ignition problem can be repaired. Since starting a car isn't considered to be a problem that usually causes a danger, the recall isn't being labelled the same way that say, a defective tire (Ford this month) or a injection system (Toyota last year) are labelled.

Still, the recall this week by another major car maker of cars already released into the marketplace should give us pause.

• Shouldn't consumers be able to trust products that they buy in the marketplace?
• Shouldn't car makers make sure that their vehicles are ready for use before they sell them?

Products Liabilty Laws Seek Justice for Injuries After the Fact

In Florida, as well as the other 49 states in this country, there are laws on the books that personal injury victims can use to get justice when a manufacturer sends a defective product out into the marketplace and it hurts them. Plaintiffs can sue for damages from defective products that are defective by design, like those subject to recall. They can also sue for monetary damages when an individual product has hurt them even though on the whole, the product line is not dangerous.

For the country, however, it is defective product lawsuits where the entire product line is defective that brings protection. It is through big victories in defective product lawsuits that real change happens in this country -- because sometimes, it's only money that makes the corporation take heed and change its product (or remove it from the marketplace).

Nissan Escapes Courtroom Battles Here

In the case of the Nissan Leaf, this defective product won't mean much, product liability lawsuit wise. Since the lawsuit must show damage to be a viable claim, and a car not starting isn't likely to hurt someone, we cannot expect products liability lawsuits to teach Nissan to be more careful. (Every injury lawsuit must show (1) liability and (2) harm.)

Instead, we must rely on the government's oversight -- and word of mouth (like this post) on a product that is growing in popularity. Nissan Leafs are being recalled, and if you own one, you should know this.

 By Bryant Esquenazi on April 19, 2011 2:38 PM