2007 Q1 Vehicle Safety Press Articles

Associated Press, "Lawsuit blames tire in Los Angeles freeway crash that killed five"

          A lawsuit claims a defective tire caused a pickup truck crash on a Southern California freeway that killed five family members. The suit, filed Tuesday in federal court, accuses Continental Tire North America Inc. of wrongful death, negligence, product liability and breach of implied warranty. It was filed on behalf of two women whose mother, father and 4-year-old brother died in the March 15 crash. More...

The St. Augustine Record, "St. Johns County woman injured as 'parked' car rolls"

          A 45-year-old St. Johns County woman is in Shands Medical Center Jacksonville after a freak accident Friday. Teresa Meador told St. Johns County Sheriff's deputies she got out of her 2004 Ford Explorer to check the mailbox at her home on South Bar-B-Ranch Road shortly after noon Friday. The SUV began backing up, catching her and dragging her underneath, said Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. Chuck Mulligan. More...

Los Angeles Times, "5 Killed in wreck on 10 Freeway in Ontario (California)"

         Investigators are trying to determine if a separated tire tread may have caused a pickup truck to veer out of control and slam into a tree Thursday morning on the shoulder of the 10 Freeway in Ontario, killing five family members, including two children. More...

Lawyers USA, "50M punitive award sidesteps High Court ruling"

          In the first major punitive damages award since the U.S. Supreme Court placed new limits on punitive damages earlier this year, a Los Angeles jury ordered DaimlerChrysler to pay $5.2 million in compensatory damages and $50 million in punitives to a man run over by his own truck. More...

Associated Press, "LA jury says DaimlerChrysler must pay $54 million in truck death"

          A jury found that DaimlerChrysler must pay about $54 million to the family of a longshoreman who was killed by a Dodge truck that backed over him at the Port of Los Angeles, attorneys said Friday. A Superior Court jury awarded damages to the family of Richard Mraz, 38, of San Pedro, in a negligence and product liability suit. More...

Long Beach Press Telegram, "$55.2M award in port death; Jury finds DaimlerChrysler negligent in alleged 'park-to-reverse' defect"

          The family of a longshoreman who was run over by a Dodge pickup at a container terminal in 2004 has been awarded $55.2 million by a jury who found the truck mechanically defective. More...

Wire Services, "San Pedro family verdict: $50 million; Punitive award for a death blamed on a faulty vehicle produced by DaimlerChrysler follows decision granting compensatory damages"

          A San Pedro woman and her three children were awarded $50 million in punitive damages Wednesday in a wrongful death suit against DaimlerChrysler Corp. A Los Angeles Superior Court jury found that DaimlerChrysler knowingly and intentionally failed to cure a defect that led to the May 1, 2004, death of 38-year-old Richard Mraz, according to Robert J. Nelson, attorney for Mraz's widow, Adriana Mraz. More...

Detroit News, "DCX loses suit in Dodge owner's death; L.A. jury awards $55M to Dakota driver's wife, who contends truck's defect killed husband"

          A Los Angeles County jury Wednesday slapped DaimlerChrysler AG with a $55 million verdict in a trial stemming from the April 2004 death of a 38-year-old longshoreman killed in an accident involving his 1992 Dodge Dakota. More...

The Star, "Police couple die in collision blamed on blowout"

         A road accident has claimed the lives of two police officers and injured three other people. More...

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, "Woman killed, two injured in rollover car crash"

         A woman was killed and her husband and 5-month-old baby were injured Tuesday when they were thrown from their car in a rollover crash. More...

Press Release: $54.4 Million Verdict Imposed Against DaimlerChrysler Corporation For Failing To Fix Known Transmission "Park-to-Reverse" Defect That Killed Young Father At San Pedro | Long Beach Maritime Terminal

          Robert J. Nelson, Scott P. Nealey, and Chuck Naylor, counsel for Adriana Mraz and her three children in a wrongful death action against DaimlerChrysler Corporation, announced that a California-state jury today returned a $54.4 million punitive damages award against DaimlerChrysler for knowing about and intentionally failing to cure a defect in millions of its vehicles. On March 2, 2007, the same jury found DaimlerChrysler liable for the death of Richard Mraz and returned a verdict of $5.2 million in compensatory damages for Mrs. Mraz and her children. More...

Detroit News, "Texan's death rekindles Ford switch issue; Family of retiree files suit blaming component linked with engine fires"

          Al Gavegan Sr.'s death in a house fire last summer left family and friends in San Antonio searching for answers -- and they say the evidence leads straight to Ford Motor Co. and a faulty electrical switch. More...

Local 6, "Bikers Killed When Tire Blows"

          A husband and wife died after their motorcycle wrecked Sunday on Interstate 4 in what officials called a Bike Week related crash. More...

Calgary Sun, "Death of girl called tragic accident" [Automobile power window dangers]

          Police are calling the death of a two-year old girl a tragic accident after she got her head caught in the power window of a vehicle while her mother was running an errand. The accident happened after the mother stopped to run a quick errand on the way to dropping her six-year-old son off at school. She left her children in the vehicle with the engine running. More...

Bloomberg News, "Honeywell loses seat belt verdict; Federal jury in Texas awards $24 million to the family of a teen who was killed in a crash"

          Honeywell International Inc. was ordered by a Texas jury to pay $24 million to the family of an 18-year-old woman who was killed in a sport utility vehicle rollover accident. More...

Newark Star-Ledger, "SUV Rollover caused by tire blowout"

         Two people were injured when their SUV struck a guardrail and rolled over twice on the Garden State Parkway yesterday, State Police said. More...

CBS 3 (Philadelphia), "SUV dangers include 'frontovers'"

          A CBS 3 investigation found a driving danger that has killed dozens of children. You think you are doing everything right to protect your family, but Investigative Reporter Jim Osman shows how a New Jersey couple, who also thought they had their two-year old son safeguarded, ended up planning his funeral. More...

San Bernardino County Sun, "5-year-old killed in crash"

         A 5-year-old Las Vegas boy was killed in a rollover car crash triggered by a tire blow-out late Monday. More...