Star Trek star Anton Yelchin’s parents have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against bosses at Fiat-Chrysler. Yelchin left his 2015 Grand Cherokee at the top of his driveway and walked down toward his gate, apparently believing the auto was safely in park.
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The actor’s Jeep rolled backward down the driveway of his home, pinning him between a mailbox and a security fence. The county coroner confirmed that Yelchin’s death was due to “blunt traumatic asphyxia”.
Fiat Chrysler announced in June that it would soon furnish software upgrades to address the problem in all recalled vehicles. According to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report, the electronic gear shift on those models left some drivers uncertain if the cars were in park, until the machines started moving again.
The court documents specifically call out FCA for knowing about the malfunction in several of their cars and the lack of “tactile or position feedback as to whether the vehicle has been actually placed into the safe-to-exit “park” gear”.
The suit alleged Fiat Chrysler had been aware for at least two years that there was a defect in a shifting device on the vehicle, meaning drivers were unwittingly leaving their cars in neutral but thinking it was in park, but concealed the information. Many reported the vehicles rolled off after the driver exited. “We are seeking punitive damages because we believe Fiat Chrysler, North America – that made and manufactured and sold this product – knew that it was defective”.
“There’s been no, ‘We’re sorry for your loss.’ They’ve hired their experts and it looks like they’re prepared to fight”, Dordick said.
The recall applies to 811,000 vehicles in the United States. “The safety recall was way too little and way too late”, Dordick added.
“In spite of our unbelievable grief, we chose to come here to prevent other families from the same tragedy”, Victor Yelchin, Anton’s father, said, according to The Huffington Post.
The automaker said in a statement it had not been served with a lawsuit and declined comment on the legal complaint.
The company also has said it is speeding up its recall of the vehicle.
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It wasn’t until a week after Yelchin’s death the late actor received another notice informing him that the company had a fix for the gear shift, Dordick said.
