A toddler was killed on June 6, 2006 in front of his
suburban Atlanta home when a 1997 Dodge Caravan minivan, with its engine
off, rolled over him. As reported in local papers, another child was
playing alone inside the minivan, shifted it out of "park," and
it rolled backward over the toddler.
This was not the first such incident. Lawsuits for deaths and injuries
have been filed involving pre-2001 Chrysler-made vehicles for lacking
a necessary safety device. As alleged, Chrysler waited until 2001 to
do what other car makers had already done -- install a "brake
shift interlock" in its vehicles that requires drivers to press
the brake pedal down, after turning the key in the ignition, in order
to shift out of "park." Millions of the pre-2001 Chrysler
vehicles are on the road nationwide.
In March, 2006, Lori Hamby, a parent of a 2-year-old, obtained a $3.4
million jury verdict in a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Atlanta against
Daimler-Chrysler. Ms. Hamby ‘s daughter was inside the family’s
1991 Dodge Caravan in July 2002. It was parked in the driveway with the
engine off with the child inside. An adult was washing the vehicle and
turned away for a moment when the child shifted the vehicle out of "park." The
child was killed after falling out of the minivan as it rolled down the
driveway.
Chrysler maintains that its pre-2001 vehicles will not shift out of
park unless the key is in the ignition. In complaints filed on behalf
of our clients, Lieff Cabraser lawyers have alleged that that safeguard
does not always work. |
