The death of Anton Yelchin on June 19 has been officially ruled an accident by the Los Angeles county coroner’s office, confirming a preliminary statement by the Los Angeles police department on the day of the actor’s death.
Advertisement
Yelchin died after he apparently stepped out of his vehicle in the steep driveway of his Los Angeles home and it rolled backwards, said a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department.
The 2014-15 Jeep Grand Cherokee four-wheel-drives and 2012-14 Chrysler 300 sedans with the automated gear stick are being recalled.
Los Angeles police are still investigating the cause of the crash, but the USA government’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Yelchin’s death “is the first fatality we’re aware of that may be related to this safety defect and vehicle recall”.
At the time the recall was announced, FCA said the “fix” would consist of a software update to include an additional mechanism to “mitigate the effect of operator error in failing to shift the monostable gear selector into PARK prior to exiting the vehicle”.
While the cause of the accident, and its connection to the recall, if any, are still under investigation, those working in the area of consumer safety say there needs to be a new recall system. Forty-one injuries, as well as crashes and property damage, have been linked to the problem.
The Grand Cherokee gear shifters were changed in the 2016 model year so that it works like those in older cars.
“Clearly the design of the shifter in these affected Jeep, Chrysler and Dodge vehicles is far from safe”, said Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman.
Yelchin would not have known about the software fix because vehicle owners hadn’t yet been notified.
The safety administration released a statement Monday evening saying, This the first fatality were aware of that may be related to this safety defect and vehicle recall..
Although an unnatural choice to play “Star Trek” navigator Chekov, Anton Yelchin showed a comedic side to the serious role, especially with that ostentatious Russian accent.
It was initially reported on Sunday morning that Yelchin had been found by his friends pinned by his vehicle against a brick mailbox and a security gate.
That campaign was extended to Australia on Wednesday, when customers were warned that drivers could “inadvertently fail to engage the “PARK” position before exiting the vehicle”.
Advertisement
FCA Australia is voluntarily recalling 47,451 vehicles to enhance transmission warnings and transmission-shift strategy.
