Dodge Neon Transmission Defect and Park to Reverse Problem

About "Park to Reverse" Defects

In March 2007, Lieff Cabraser partners Robert J. Nelson and Scott P. Nealey served as lead trial counsel in a five week trial and obtained a $55.2 million verdict for the family of a young father killed due to the park-to-reverse defect with a 1991 Dodge Dakota pickup truck ($5.2 million in compensatory damages and 50 million in punitive damages). Lieff Cabraser has handled and settled numerous park-to-reverse injury cases in the last five years, yet the Mraz case was the first trial regarding this defect in a number of years. A "park to reverse" defect is found in vehicles in which it is possible for drivers to place the vehicle's automatic transmission shift selector into a position between park and reverse during normal vehicle operations. This shift position is also referred to as "false park" or "illusory park."

False park is a very dangerous defect because it appears to the driver that the vehicle is fully in park--the vehicle idles as it does in neutral and feels and sounds as it would in park--and the driver may exit the vehicle with the engine running (e.g., to load the car, get the mail, etc.) where upon the vehicle can self shift into powered reverse, runing over the driver or a bystander.

When a vehicle is in false park, the transmission is neither in park nor in hydraulic reverse, but instead it is in an unstable position between the two gears. Slight movements can cause the vehicle to self-shift into reverse. When the vehicle is running, this will cause the vehicle to move backwards unexpectedly under power.

2009 Update

On September 24, 2009, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court overseeing the Chrysler bankruptcy proceedings approved the payment of $24 million for the wrongful death of longshoreman Richard Mraz. The settlement is believed to be one of the largest ever of an individual wrongful death action involving an auto manufacturer. The settlement occurred while the case was on appeal from a verdict finding Chrysler's disregard of consumer safety led to the death of a Southern California father of three children. "We're gratified that the Bankruptcy Court has approved the settlement, and the action has been resolved," stated Lieff Cabraser attorney Robert J. Nelson, who served as lead trial and appellate counsel. "We hope that the new Chrysler Corporation will never put short-term profits ahead of the safety of its customers." Learn more....

Terminology

The issue of Park-to-Reverse is one that is described in many different ways both in lawsuits and in how people commonly refer to the issue. Such terms and phrases include: park to reverse, unintentional rearward movement, unintended rearward movement, unintentional reverse, unintended reverse, unintentional acceleration, unintended acceleration, powered reverse, failure to hold in park, slipped gear, inadvertant movement, inadvertant rearward movement, jumped into reverse, kicked into reverse, slipped into reverse, change gear, changed gear, back over, backed over, roll backwards, lurched backwards, roll back, rolled back, rearward runaway, accidental shift, shift alone, shift suddently, shift into reverse, shift out of park, switch gears, went into reverse.