Summary: The family of Anton Yelchin are suing Fiat Chrysler for manufacturing the car that killed him.
In a tragic case of too little too late, Jeep Grand Cherokee mailed a recall notice to Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin seven days after he was crushed by one of their cars, Variety reports. His family’s attorney shared this detail on Tuesday when his parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the car’s maker, Fiat Chrysler, and the gear shift manufacturer, ZF North America.
Yelchin played Pavel Chekov in the Star Trek reboot, and he also had a starring role in the indie film, Charlie Bartlett. The rising star was only 27 years old when his Jeep Grand Cherokee rolled and pinned him against his Studio City home. Yelchin died that day, June 19.
The vehicle’s rollaway problem was one the company was aware of. Fiat Chrysler had recalled 800,000 cars in April after receiving hundreds of complaints. In May, they sent notices to consumers notifying them of the gear problem and instructing them on how to check if their car was in park. Yelchin’s family lawyer, Gary Dordick, said that the car manufacturer should have never used the faulty gear shift in the first place. It was only until June when Fiat Chrysler issued a notice to Yelchin that they were changing the bad gear shifter, but by then it was too late.
The 2014 and 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokees have a joystick-like shifter that returns to the same position no matter what shift the car is in. This resulted in some drivers becoming confused and leaving their car in a gear, resulting in a roll away.
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Fiat Chrysler said they could not comment on the impending litigation. However, they stated that they urged “customers to follow the instructions in their owners manuals and the information cards sent with their recall notices. These instructions include advising customers to set the parking brakes in their vehicles before exiting.”
The company also said that the car had “warning chimes and alert messages (‘Vehicle Not in Park’) if their driver-side doors are opened while their engines are still running and PARK is not engaged.”
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Source: Variety
Photo courtesy of The Daily Beast