Posted on 09/23/2024 1:31:33 PM PDT by algore
Mazda is facing a class action lawsuit in the US, with the owner of one of its cars claiming it has a major defect… that’s actually just an extremely common safety feature.
Filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California, Pennsylvanian Mazda CX-50 owner Joshua Meltzer is attempting to sue the carmaker for US$5 million (A$7.35 million) following an incident which resulted in his daughter jumping out of the moving vehicle.
The feature in particular is the requirement for drivers to press the brake pedal when switching the car on, which is shown in the instrument cluster as “Depress Brake Pedal to Start Vehicle.”
According to Car Complaints, Mr Meltzer says he purchased the CX-50 in May 2024 and told his daughter how to operate it.
Two weeks later upon her first attempt at driving it, the incident occurred.
“She pressed the Stop-Start button. The display then informed her ‘Depress Brake to Start Vehicle’,” Mr Meltzer’s lawsuit says.
“She then depressed the brake and shifted the vehicle out of Park and into Drive. The vehicle immediately began to roll backwards. She attempted to control the vehicle, including pressing the brakes, but both the power brakes and power steering were unresponsive.”
Effectively, Mr Meltzer’s daughter appears to have taken the instruction to mean depressing the brake would start the vehicle, and not that she should depress the brake and then press the start button again.
His daughter, whose age is unknown, allegedly feared for her life and jumped out of the driver’s door, with the Mazda continuing on its trajectory until it hit a kerb and then a neighbour’s tree, which Mr Meltzer had to pay to repair.
Mazda has denied the CX-50’s feature and how it operates is defective, with a dealership service manager telling the owner the car was shifted into gear when in accessory mode before the engine was on, meaning it couldn’t provide power assistance to the steering or brakes.
The owner is not only suing for financial compensation but also alleges owners of Mazdas fitted with push-button start since 2017 have been overpaying for their vehicles, with the “defect” leading to diminished values.
We just bought our first car with push button start and I recently realized that I have no idea how to turn it on in accessory mode without starting the engine. Annoying that I need to look up something I’ve been doing my entire four-decades as a driver!
Probably put in so that in case there is a failure in the system and the car starts up in gear...depressing the brake will stop the car from moving. Manufacturer is admitting their electronic controls can fail.
I hate “drive by wire b.s.” hate it.
They’re turning driving a car into a real life physical computer “app”. Too bad you can’t reboot a dead person, killed by an idiot, who is depending on a computerized car to do what the driver is supposed to do.
Don’t press the brake when you push the start button. The car will activate accessory mode.
The cartoon makes me think of the report in the 1990s, during the fighting in former Yugoslavia, of an emergency airlift of vowels to Bosnia.
They make cars impossible to maintain or repair yourself
This surely isn’t by accident
Build an idiot proof car and the universe makes a bigger idiot.🙄
A few weeks ago, my father and I were driving the 2022 Jeep home with less than 20,000 miles. We stopped at his mailbox which is about 1/4 mile from the farmhouse. The car wouldn’t go into gear. He could shift, but the transmission wouldn’t go into drive or reverse. We sat there for about 10 minutes figuring out what to do, call a neighbor, get a tow, etc. We were getting ready to walk to the house when he noticed the car door wasn’t shut tight. He closed the door off we went.
Working as an engineer in a factory, the lengths the Health and Safety team will make us go to make up for operator stupidity is incredible. They want everything fool proofed to the point that it is impossible for someone even trying to hurt themselves. People like this are why.
I guess the media idiots in Australia don’t know that it takes more than just one owner to file a class action lawsuit.
Another damned “safety feature” that causes confusion and costs more money to maintain.
I’m sure your farmer dad didn’t need it
Especially not on a jeep (war fighting vehicle). Ha!
Thanks for the info. I would never have figured it out. And would undoubtedly have spent the day getting it towed to the mechanic
This country is in horrible shape because of warning labels.
All the idiots are surviving and reproducing.
If you don’t know to keep your hands and feet from under a running lawnmower, or to stay out of a giant electrical box, you probably shouldn’t have children...
Don’t get me started over the difference between operating a rolling computer and driving a car.
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