Consumer Safety Blog

In June 2010, a California jury decided that Enterprise Rent-A-Car should pay $15 million to the parents of two young women who died in 2004 when their rental car caught fire and crashed.  Enterprise had admitted liability in May 2010 for the accident, since the PT Cruiser the sisters, Jacqueline and Raechel Houck, rented had an open recall for potential under-the-hood fires.  Experts determined that the cause of the accident was a faulty power steering hose.

Since the verdict, the sisters’ mother, Carol Houck, has worked with the Center for Auto …(read more)

Remington Arms Company has been the subject of a products liability investigation sparked by decades of customer complaints and accidental deaths.  Investigators uncovering internal files and interviewing former employees of Remington Arms Company have found some alarming information — Remington allegedly knew of a design defect but failed to take action.

The first Remington Model 700 rifle was the 721, which was introduced in the late 1940s.  The rifle’s popularity has largely been due to a unique trigger mechanism invented by Merle “Mike” Walker, a Remington engineer, dubbed the “perfect trigger.”  …(read more)

A recent CNBC investigation and report has uncovered a potentially damaging consumer safety scandal involving the world’s most popular hunting rifle, the Remington Model 700.  With thousands of customer complaints and over 75 lawsuits pending, the gun manufacturer is under fire for a trigger design that plaintiffs allege causes accidental discharges.  Over 20 deaths and 100 injuries have been linked to Model 700 rifles allegedly firing without the trigger having been pulled.

The 700 Series rifles are famous for their accuracy and smooth trigger and are extremely popular with hunters and …(read more)

On Wednesday, October 13 at 6:30 a.m., Grand Ledge, Michigan resident Marty Hoffman’s morning began with a disturbing discovery.  As she opened a bag of frozen vegetables to prepare a meal, Mrs. Hoffman looked inside the bag and found a small frog sitting atop the veggies.  Her husband, Tim Hoffman, was upstairs when he heard his wife screaming.

Mr. Hoffman quickly went downstairs and stared in disbelief alongside his wife.  He photographed the frog, sealed up the bag, and later called the Detroit office of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) …(read more)