I'm so glad you are OK. Hoping no one else was hurt.
Will the van be taken care of by insurance and Mobility Works and have you back on the road soon?
Its not like you can just get a rental van from Enterprise till yours is fixed. Kind of curious how that gets handled.
I imagine your insurance company will pay a body shop, mechanic, and Mobility Works to evaluate and repair any accessibility equipment. The insurance company may want to file a claim for reimbursement against Mobility Works, the "manufacturer" of the van since they modified it from its OEM condition and recertified it to the FMVSS (federal motor vehicle safety standard). There is probably a sticker in your door jamb stating something to that effect. You will want a photo of that evidence before the van is totaled. Then Mobility Works may want to make a claim against Sure Grip. In theory.
Seems like Mobility Works has deeper pockets and greater liability due to a higher standard of care since they sold and certified the whole van (with the knob). Subjecting them to many testing requirements and federal consumer protection laws that would not apply to the manufacturer of a plastic knob subject to only state law. That affords you a greater opportunity for discovery. Demand the test reports, videos, etc, done by mobility works.
When Mobility Works sold the van, they were saying in effect "this knob meets or exceeds the federal standards for a steering wheel". If they supplied the knob, it is OEM equipment, not just an accessory. If your Ford van had the steering wheel come off in your hand, would you go after the subcontractor that made the steering wheel for Ford, or would you go after Ford?
The best outcome overall (maybe not for you personally) would probably be if Mobility Works were encouraged to work together with Sure Grip to develop a safer spinner knob ASAP, tested by NHTSA, recertified to FMVSS, and Mobility Works issue a recall to replace the defective ones.
The worst outcome would probably be Sure Grip executives being scared of liability, going out of business ending 33 jobs and availability of spinner knobs in the US.
The major threat to Sure Grip comes from you and your insurance company. Maybe the better outcome happens if you allay their fears and try to get all parties working together. Maybe that is naive.
I'm not a lawyer, may be very wrong in my opinions and knowledge.
I do have a beef against Mobility Works in the way they install rear manual ramps that block access to the rear interior door egress handles. It effectively blocks wheelchair users inside unless opened from the outside by someone else. Van makers successfully lobbied to be excluded from the FMVSS mandate for interior trunk release because they argued that the interior handles serve as that release. It was seperately determined that the interior rear space of a van is topologically similar to a trunk, thus the trunk law applied and an exception was necessary. I've been trying to figure out how to file a complaint about that but just get sent to voicemail that never gets returned. Perhaps there is a way to bundle several complaints against Mobility Works safety practices together into a class action.
The person at Mobility Works that sold me my van claimed to personally be an engineer that selected and installed prototypes for several of the systems they use. I later learned that he is a liar in the grand tradition of used car salesmen and would say anything to get the sale.
This is what I gathered looking for door handle info. Perhaps there is something in there that will help you. Maybe 49 CFR § 38 Subpart A
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 206, Door locks and door retention components.
https://www.federalregister.gov/documen ... components"Today's final rule also eliminates an exclusion from the requirements of the standard for doors equipped with wheelchair platform lifts."
"The Executive Committee of the 1998 Agreement charged the Working Party on Passive Safety (GRSP) to form an informal working group to discuss and evaluate relevant issues concerning requirements for door locks and door retention components and to make recommendations regarding a potential GTR.[7]"
49 CFR § 38 Subpart A- General "alternative designs and technologies used will provide substantially equivalent or greater access to and usability of the vehicle."
§ 38.2 Equivalent facilitation.
Departures from particular technical and scoping requirements of these guidelines by use of other designs and technologies are permitted where the alternative designs and technologies used will provide substantially equivalent or greater access to and usability of the vehicle. Departures are to be considered on a case-by-case basis under procedures set forth in § 37.7 of this title.
§ 37.7 Standards for accessible vehicles.
(a) For purposes of this part, a vehicle shall be considered to be readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities if it meets the requirements of this part and the standards set forth in part 38 of this title.
Citations gathered from
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/s ... -A/part-38