Few people expect to be harmed by companies that they trust. Even fewer people anticipate death from using consumer products. However, these types of cases occur with alarming regularity in our country. 

The Centers for Disease Control estimates that as many as 5,000 people per year die from food-borne illnesses. Many of these deaths could have been prevented. They were mainly caused by poor safety and quality controls. Even though the Food and Drug Administration regularly inspects food processing plants, salmonella and other bacteria slip into the country's food supply without warning.

The number of cases against companies that cause wrongful death with food is rising steadily. In the past year alone, several companies received citations for manufacturing practices that endangered the lives of consumers. The highly publicized case of the Blakely, Georgia peanut butter factory was just the tip of an iceberg set to do more damage than the one that destroyed the Titanic. Consumers must hold these companies accountable for their actions. Personal injury attorneys, not the FDA, are your best defense against this kind of wrongful death.

The Federal Trade Commission and several other federal government agencies oversee the practices of large manufacturers that produce automobile parts and accessories. However, the federal government cannot afford to inspect each tire on every production line. It is the responsibility of each company to ensure that the tires they sell to consumers are safe. Yet many tire manufacturers have created processes that make it more likely that consumers will have faulty tires on their vehicles, without a word to the public about the potential hazards. Some tire manufacturers pay their inspectors on commission, instead of a salary. This practice can result in spotty inspections, due to the inspector's preoccupation with his or her paycheck.

A tire failure or blowout at expressway speeds is usually fatal for the driver and occupants of the vehicle. Yet, every day, faulty tire construction endangers thousands of Americans, commuting to work or traveling on the interstates for business and pleasure. Wrongful death lawsuits stemming from tire defects reached into billions of dollars this century. Without personal injury attorneys, it is unlikely that tire manufacturers would offer the victims of these tragedies much more than a new set of the same tires that failed.

See details of the See details of the Bridgestone Steeltex Tires Recall at consumeraffairs.com.