Last weekend saw the tragic death of 27-year-old Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin, who was killed when his Jeep Grand Cherokee rolled as he was standing behind it, pinning him to a brick pillar.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, on Thursday of last week, three plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, the manufacturer of Jeep, in a California federal court.
The complaint alleges that a “dangerously defective gear shifter” mechanism is to blame for Yelchin’ death, as well as hundreds of other incidents involving Jeeps, and that Fiat Chrysler have taken an “unreasonable delay” in fixing the defect.
The text, which you can read in full here, says:
“One of the most basic safety features in every car is the gear shifter that causes a stationary car to remain stationary, unless and until an operator wants the car to move … Though complaints and accident reports have been ongoing since at least early 2015, FCA has only recently initiated a voluntary recall of the over 811,000 Defective Shifter Vehicles in the United States; but to date it has only sent a letter to owners describing the design defect of the ZF Shifter, even though it knows exactly how to fix the problem by looking at what its competitors have done. FCA’s unreasonable delay in fixing the defect and its warning letter was obviously too little, too late for Mr. Yelchin, and nearly a million Defective Shifter Vehicles remain in unsuspecting owners’ driveways and garages.”
The plaintiffs are asking Fiat Chrysler to replace every shifter or install a safety override system in every potentially defective vehicle.
Per the New York Times they are also seeking “punitive damages for fraud, compensation to owners for the loss of the vehicle’s alue, and a temporary replacement vehicle for owners.
It is estimated at this point that damages will be greater than $US5 million.
Source: New York Times.
Photo: Michael Tran / Getty.
