Los Angeles police are investigating whether the 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee that fatally rolled onto actor Anton Yelchin over the weekend contained a transmission defect that prompted a manufacturer recall. The primary issue involves drivers exiting the vehicle before the transmission fully set in “Park”.
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The company are said to have been working on a fix expected to arrive in October or later. “It is premature to speculate on the cause of this tragedy”, the statement read.
The official investigation into Yelchin’s death is ongoing. Jeep previously acknowledged that its electronic shifter design in those model years led many owners to mistakenly think their vehicles were in park, only to have the vehicles roll because they were actually in neutral. The weird gear stick was blamed for 212 vehicle crashes, 308 property damages, and 41 injuries.
Anton Yelchin’s untimely death may have been caused by a confusing gear shifter in his Jeep.
Drivers apparently complained of having trouble telling if they had put the vehicle in park. Instead, there would be a warning light on the stick and there would be a chime when the door opened if the vehicle was in neutral.
Zaldana took to Twitter on Monday, June 20, 2016, to pour her heart out over the demise of the 27-year-old actor.
“The victim was on his way to meet his friends for a rehearsal and when he didn’t show up, his friends went to his house where they found him deceased by his auto”, said Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman, Jennifer Houser, to CNN. In the meantime, many in the industry have gathered to grieve and honor Yelchin-someone Star Trek director JJ Abrams recognized as “brilliant”. The film is scheduled to have its world premiere in San Diego at the annual fan convention Comic-Con on July 20, before it hits theaters on July 22.
Other films he starred in which still are to be released include Rememory, We Don’t Belong Here, Porto, and Thoroughbred.
Yelchin, an only child, was born in Russian Federation. His parents, who were professional figure skaters, moved the family to the United States when Yelchin was a baby. He briefly flirted with skating lessons, too, before discovering that he wasn’t very skilled on the ice.
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The rapper and actor Drake, who had a cameo in “Charlie Bartlett”, posted this picture of him and Yelchin to his Instagram.
