Lawsuit Alleges Wrongful Death Caused by Improper Repairs on Totaled Vehicle
The grieving family of a Florida mother has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a car rental company, auto auction company, used car retailer, manufacturer, and body shop over the death of a Florida woman. According to the complaint, the decedent was killed in a June 12, 2023 collision when a counterfeit driver ’s-side airbag “detonated like a grenade and shot metal and plastic shrapnel throughout the vehicle cabin.” According to the plaintiff’s lawsuit, what should have been a minor collision turned deadly due to the negligence of several parties.
The lawsuit contends that the decedent believed she was buying a safe and reliable vehicle. However, the lawsuit contends that several automotive companies worked to skirt the system by repairing what should have been a totaled vehicle. Due to their negligence, the decedent lost her life, and her children will grow up without a mother.
There happens to be a Chinese company that allegedly designs, manufactures, sells, and distributes counterfeit airbags to the U.S. One of those airbags was placed in the decedent’s vehicle, a 2020 Chevrolet Malibu by an automotive shop, according to the lawsuit.
The vehicle’s history
The lawsuit contends that in 2022, the vehicle was involved in a collision that caused the front driver-side airbag and front driver-side seatbelt pre-tensioner to deploy. The damage to the vehicle in the accident was so extensive that the vehicle should have been classified as a total loss, issued a salvage title, and removed from the road.
Instead, the Chevy Malibu was sold to Drivetime through an auction company and an automotive company was hired to repair the vehicle before it was resold to the decedent, according to the complaint. Because the airbag and pre-tensioner deployed during the accident, the automotive shop purchased counterfeit and non-compliant airbag components that were designed, manufactured, and sold by the Chinese company that produces counterfeit airbags.
During a collision that the lawsuit describes as “minor,” the airbag defectively deployed, exploding in the face of the driver. Further, the seatbelt pre-tensioner wasn’t repaired or replaced. Instead, the pre-tensioner’s wires were allegedly cut to allow the driver’s seatbelt to “release from its deployed position, appear normal, and appear to function as designed and intended to an unwitting customer. The lawsuit contends that the pre-tensioner didn’t deploy as originally designed and that fragments from the counterfeit airbag struck the driver in the face as she was maneuvering her vehicle, ultimately causing her death.
Several defendants are named in the lawsuit, each of which contributed some liability to the accident. The vehicle should have been removed from service after it was totaled.
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Source:
repairerdrivennews.com/2024/05/22/lawsuit-alleges-mothers-death-caused-by-improper-repairs-on-totaled-vehicle/
