We’ve all read about auto defects that can cause catastrophic Palm Beach County car accidents. Faulty engines, worn tires, air bag malfunctions, and stuck accelerator pedals can lead a motorist to lose control of a vehicle and crash. Now, here are allegations of another type of auto defect-one that doesn’t require anyone to be driving the car let alone even be in it.
In her Broward County auto products liability complaint, Kimberlin Nickles is suing Toyota and car dealer JM Lexus for her daughter Chastity Glisson’s Boca Raton wrongful death. Glisson died of carbon monoxide poisoning after leaving her Lexus running in her garage last year. Nickles believes that her daughter either forgot to shut down her car’s engine or thought she had done so but in fact did not. Glisson’s boyfriend, Timothy Maddock, was also a victim of the CO poisoning incident and is also suing Toyota for Palm Beach personal injury.
Toyota’s Smart Car system is a keyless system that doesn’t require anything to be inserted into an ignition. Instead, it is a key fob that allows a car to keep running as long as the device is near the vehicle. Nickles contends that because her daughter’s Lexus was designed to have an engine that was “virtually soundless and smooth,” it was easy for her daughter to not realize that the vehicle was still running.
Nickles is not the first person to sue Toyota for auto products liability and wrongful death over the Smart Key system design. Also, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has received a number of complaints from consumers who left their vehicles running even after they were no longer in the car and had taken the key fob with them.
South Florida Auto Products Liability
It is the responsibility of an auto manufacturer to make sure that their vehicles and their parts are designed in a way that does not increase the chance of injury or death. If there are certain safety risks, then the automaker needs to warn about them and remedy the situation. Convenience and modern technology must never substitute for safety.
Unfortunately, many people are too intimidated to sue giant automakers. You need to work with an experienced Palm Beach car crash law firm that understands the complexities of an auto products liability case and is not afraid to get you the compensation that you are owed.
Smart Key Blamed for Another Death, Courthouse News Service, June 21, 2011
Suit Blames Toyota ‘Smart Key’ for Carbon Monoxide Death, Consumer Affairs, June 2011
Woman Dies, Man Found Unconscious From Carbon Monoxide, WPBF, August 27, 2011
Toyota sued in carbon monoxide tragedy that killed 79-year-old lawyer, NY Daily News, November 7, 2010
Related Web Resources:
Toyota
Complaints, Safercar.gov
Related Web Resources:
Florida Products Liability: Senate Passes Tort Reform Legislation That Could Limit Payouts from Manufacturers of Defective Autos, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, March 24, 2011
Will US Supreme Court’s Revival of Seat Belt Defect Lawsuit Against Mazda and Window Defect Case Against Ford Pave the Way for More Florida Auto Products Liability Cases?, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, February 28, 2011
Miami-Dade County Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Accident in Hialeah Hotel Room Kills 5 Teenagers, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, February 28, 2010