Daimler Chrysler hit by tire.

1633 Views 20 Replies 20 Participants Last post by H2O WOLF, Nov 27, 2001

vdubjb

Discussion Starter · Nov 26, 2001

Associated Press
By Associated Press
<http://www.detroitnews.com/pix/folios/dot.gif>
On the Net:
DaimlerChrysler AG, http://www.daimlerchrysler.com
Jury Verdict Research, http://www.juryverdictresearch.com/index.html
Comment on this story
Send this story to a friend
Get Home Delivery
<http://www.detroitnews.com/pix/folios/dot.gif>
JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- A jury has ordered the Chrysler Group of DaimlerChrysler AG to pay $20 million to the family of a woman who was killed while driving one of the automaker's vans when a tire from another vehicle came loose and pushed the roof into her.
The sum, which includes payments of $5 million to each of her three sons because they witnessed her death, is among the largest in an automotive injury case in New Jersey, according to Jury Verdict Research, of Horsham, Pa., which tracks awards.
The Nov. 9 verdict came after a 10-day trial.
Chrysler plans to challenge the award.
"I know it's clearly one of the highest in New Jersey," said Stuart M. Feinblatt, lawyer for Annette Boryszewski. She died Aug. 5, 1998, when her 1998 Plymouth Voyager was hit by the left front tire of a vehicle going the other way on Interstate Highway 280 in East Orange.
The impact pushed the roof onto Boryszewski, 38. Her sons -- aged 14, 11 and 7 at the time -- had cuts from glass shards. The family, which had lived in Harrison, still lives in New Jersey, Feinblatt said.
The tires on the other vehicle, a Jeep Wrangler driven by Cody Burke, had been rotated at North End Mobil in Bloomfield one week earlier.
The tire that came loose was not found, but police determined that the other front wheel had not been tightened.
Confidential settlements were reached with Burke, 24, of Glen Ridge; the garage operator; and Exxon Mobil Corp.; leaving DaimlerChrysler the only defendant.
Ken Gluckman, Chrysler Group general counsel, called the incident a "freak accident."
"The Plymouth Voyager's roof system is 50 percent stronger than government requirements and stronger than all other minivans tested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration," Gluckman said. "The tire hit with such force, any vehicle's roof would have deformed."

See less See more

1 - 20 of 21 Posts

H2O WOLF

· #2 · Nov 26, 2001

Re: Daimler Chrysler hit by tire. (vdubjb)

Two points:
1.) How can the judge come down hard on Daimler Chrysler when their standards for roof strength were above the governments standards
2.) How come they couldn't find the tire that hit the van? That's kind of strange

landrumdh

· #3 · Nov 26, 2001

Re: Daimler Chrysler hit by tire. (KonigGTI)

quote:[HR][/HR]Two points:
1.) How can the judge come down hard on Daimler Chrysler when their standards for roof strength were above the governments standards
2.) How come they couldn't find the tire that hit the van? That's kind of strange
[HR][/HR]

How come it was held against them at all? I'm sorry but this sounds like a very stupid law suit. I'm sorry the lady died and all but it wasn't Chryslers fault.

jerk

· #4 · Nov 26, 2001

Re: Daimler Chrysler hit by tire. (landrumdh)

I can't believe they actually have grounds to sue an automaker? Seems to me that the blame lies on the Mobil station that did the service a week prior.

See less See more

Freeheel

· #5 · Nov 26, 2001

Re: Daimler Chrysler hit by tire. (vdubjb)

Not familiar with New Jersey law in particular, but . . .
As a general rule there is what's called "joint and several liabililty" in situations like this, meaning any potential defendant can be held liable for all of an injured party's losses. As a hypothetical here: maybe the station that did the tire change is 80% at fault for not securing the tire to the jeep properly, the jeep driver is 15% at fault for not stopping to check a horrible grinding sound coming from the front of his vehicle before the tire flew off, the deceased woman is 4% at fault for not noticing the tire flying at her and moving over a lane to let it miss, and Chrysler is 1% at fault for not making the roof strong enough to survive a force equal to a piano being dropped out of a 40 story building on the corner of the van.
Assuming, as it says here, the station and other car driver settled out before the trial, then Chrysler is the only defendant left at trial and is held responsible for all the damages even if they were only 1% at fault. This kind of thing varies from state to state, but it wouldn't be unusual if this is how it works in New Jersey. In some states, there are varying rules (like in CA a defendant in this kind of case can only be held responsible for its proportionate share of non-economic damages such as pain and suffering, but can be held responsible for all the economic damages).
The claim against Chrysler would be that they failed to make the vehicle adequately crashworthy for a foreseeable impact. Not saying I agree at all, just that this is how it would be argued. There would be lots of expert testimony about design and engineering to let the jury decide whether the product was safe enough. Just meeting a government standard isn't a complete defense.
This is where it sucks to be a deep pocket defendant. If you get hit for 1% of the fault in a case you can pay huge money if the other defendants who caused 99% of the problem aren't able to pay. And if the facts are really dramatic -- like three kids watching Mom die -- you can be pretty sure most juries are going to be real sympathetic to the kids and maybe not so worried about whether the "big corporation" has to pay $20M even though it was only 1% at fault.

See less See more

VWVan

· #6 · Nov 26, 2001

Re: Daimler Chrysler hit by tire. (Freeheel)

Chrysler shouldn't even be involved in this. They built the minivan to standards above what the govenment set.
Sorry that mother got killed though, and for her kids to witness that

See less See more

A4Jetta

· #7 · Nov 27, 2001

Re: Daimler Chrysler hit by tire. (vdubjb)

Its more of a Mobil service center's problem rather than Chrysler's.

stl4310

· #8 · Nov 27, 2001

2

Re: Daimler Chrysler hit by tire. (A4Jetta)

What are we coming to? My dad is a lawyer, and he had a case in which a drunken man was driving his motorcycle with his girlfriend on the back, and the sped around a corner and lost control. Well, there was a telephone line going into the ground on the side of the road, and the man got his arm cut off by the line, and his girlfriend had her head cut off and it then started to roll down the street. This man then proceeds to sue the telephone company for putting the cable there!?!?!?! He didn't win, but that's not the point

Ludricious things such as these should never even be allowed to enter a court room!!!

See less See more

Gary C

· #9 · Nov 27, 2001

Re: Daimler Chrysler hit by tire. (stl4310)

thats nuts... im sorry but chrysler did their job and exhibits no fault in my book.
the station that rotated the tyres has fault, along with the driver of the jeep and the lady herself. i feel for her and her family but COME ON blame who's really guilty.
'sides everytime to get behind the wheel there is always the what if. *shrug*

MB300E87

· #10 · Nov 27, 2001

Re: Daimler Chrysler hit by tire. (vdubjb)

i really hate stupid lawsuits like this. i'll admit, and flame me if you want, but it makes it hard for me to feel sorry for people even if they die when a lawsuit like this is made. note that its hard to feel sorry, not that i don't feel sorry.

Prostrho

· #11 · Nov 27, 2001

Re: Daimler Chrysler hit by tire. (MB300E87)

This is stupid!!!
What if that person rolled off a cliff and killed herself and then the family sue chrysler for not making a car that cannot drive itself and and have a roof strong enough to withstand the impact of falling off a cliff?

[Modified by CanuckPal, 9:51 AM 11-27-2001]

Silly_me

· #12 · Nov 27, 2001

2

Re: Daimler Chrysler hit by tire. (vdubjb)

U.S. laws are pety and ignorant. And trial lawyers should all be beaten with wet mackerals and forced to dig potatos the rest of their lives. Suits like this allow me immense shame to call myself an American.
Just to add it on to the heaping pile of shat that is our judicial system..... Anyone remember the following suits from several years ago?
D-C was successfully sued by a NY man whom had his kid killed when the airbag in his minivan went off. The fking problem was that a) the kid was a toddler and in the front seat unbuckled, and b) the dad was going the wrong way in a driveway/parkinglot and hit a building

Keeping in mind the above suit. The next one here happened around the same time:
A man in Indiana (maybe Illinois) was sentenced to two days in jail for negligence that led to his childs death. The man was in an accident while driving his pickup (maybe an F150). The passenger airbag went off killing the kid. The court found him guilty because the truck had a switch that should have been used to shut the passenger airbag off. The man was forced to spend the child's death day in jail, and the child's birthday in jail.
Do you see the glaring hypocrisy in our courts?

See less See more

[email protected]

· #13 · Nov 27, 2001

Re: Daimler Chrysler hit by tire. (vdubjb)

Absolutely ridiculous. http://****************.com/smile/emthdown.gif

See less See more

uncleho

· #14 · Nov 27, 2001

Re: Daimler Chrysler hit by tire. (CanuckPal)

Agreed, but you can blame our own government for this.
Not to sound conspiracy-bound, but when our 'leadership' is made up of lawyers and greed/power is their goal... well, you get dumb-arss laws (or lack of) like this.
I hear there are other nations (some in Europe) that would never allow this to even be heard! Places where the Judge has the power and sense to slap someone silly for insulting the public intelligence with garbage like this.
ONLY IN AMERICA!

Hajduk

· #15 · Nov 27, 2001

Re: Daimler Chrysler hit by tire. (A4Jetta)

quote:[HR][/HR]Its more of a Mobil service center's problem rather than Chrysler's.[HR][/HR]

But they don't have deep pockets like Chrysler...

Rob

· #16 · Nov 27, 2001

Re: Daimler Chrysler hit by tire. (Hajduk)

Stupid lawsuit HOWEVER I believe that minivans and SUV's have unreasonably weak roofs - government standards or not. I would personally like to see a strengthening of the roofs to protect better in rollovers. A tire moving at highspeed, however, is pretty tough to protect against. Even if there was a full rollcage in the car, I'd bet it would put a pretty big dent in it.

Double-V

· #17 · Nov 27, 2001

Re: Daimler Chrysler hit by tire. (Rob)

Thankfully, Canadian courts hear far fewer of these frivolous lawsuits than American courts. The fact of the matter is, it is impossible to design a vehicle for every foreseeable event. The wheel could just as easily have penetrated the windshield.

jtm

· #18 · Nov 27, 2001

Re: Daimler Chrysler hit by tire. (Double-V)

I totally agree that this is a stupid lawsuit, but I think these suits usually get appealed and the award amount comes to much less than initially. Anyone know of a situation where the original ludicrous award amount is actually retained?

Eric in DC

· #19 · Nov 27, 2001

2

Re: Daimler Chrysler hit by tire. (Silly_me)

quote:[HR][/HR]U.S. laws are pety and ignorant. And trial lawyers should all be beaten with wet mackerals and forced to dig potatos the rest of their lives.
[HR][/HR]

Wet mackerels? Do they hurt more than baracudas or something? How about using eels? more whip-like effect should cause more pain. I actually love mackerel sushi (Saba), hmm.........yum.

See less See more

bc

· #20 · Nov 27, 2001

Re: Daimler Chrysler hit by tire. (Eric in DC)

MONKEY BARS FOR EVERYONE!!

1 - 20 of 21 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.