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.
I want to say that, oh, about 999,999 out of 1,000,000 people know how to start a push button car, the conclusion being that this girl is an idiot.
I think I see the problem.
Suing is easier (and more profitable) than admitting your daughter is a dumb bunny who can’t be trusted to operate a motor vehicle.
Why is this person from Pennsylvania filing his suit in California?
I bet she can name 500 different genders.
Liberal whiner
Ambulance chaser
Reminds me of what happened at DFW Airport years ago.
They used to have a convenient sign that told you which terminal your flight was.
Until some idiot thought it was ok to stop their car in the middle of the road to read the sign.
To make a long story short, they took the signs down.
“Mr Meltzer says he purchased the CX-50 in May 2024 and told his daughter how to operate it”
Obviously he didn’t and he and this frivolous lawsuit should be thrown out with extreme prejudice.
Probably where Mazda America has their US hq and more sympathetic judges
In EVERY ‘push-button’ car I’ve ever driven:
Can’t shift out of park while car is off.
Can’t start car while in gear.
Must first be in park to start engine, have brake depressed to start & shift.
So either this particular vehicle had a manufacturing defect [and he’s got 1/2 a case (still need injury/damages)] or they’re morons, full of shit, and are suing to make the kid feel better about her lack of basic driving skills and low intelligence.
No car manual? Duh!
“Can’t shift out of park while car is off.”
She did turn the car on; the electronic systems were on by pressing the start button, but not the engine. Activating the car’s electronics disengages the shift lever lock.
The engine can be started when the push button start is pressed from off, ACC, or ON.
NOTE: The starter will not operate if the selector lever is not in P or N position and the brake pedal is not depressed sufficiently.
"switching the car on"
Back in the day when depressing the brake pedal was a new thing,
I rented a car at O’Hare to drive to Michigan. It was a new model with, as I learned the hard way, this brake-pedal feature.
I stopped for coffee at Denny’s in Portage, Indiana (just off the freeway, open all night). At 2 or 3am, I was ready to resume my journey. The new rental car refused to start. I finally found the phone number to reach the rental agency. After about an hour of infuriatingly repetitive security validations, the gentleman told me to depress the brake.
The car started.
Gotta say, though, that depressing the brake is NOT an obvious way to start a car. Indeed, it is counter-intuitive!
Ha!
I hate and detest these new “push button start” cars.
My father had a push button start car when I was a youngster.
Turn the ignition key and push the button to start it. It was a 1947 Ford.
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