How do you hold a DEALER responsible at all? Unless they had done repair work on that throttle and screwed it up, how are they liable for a defect from the factory?
Also, no seatbelt? I’d put that at being far more responsible for the extent of her injuries due to the accident than anything else.
I was in heavy traffic on a 2 lane highway coming up to a busy intersection with no turning lane one day and my accelerator stuck, I turned the key and used all of my 100lbs to get it stopped and onto the shoulder while keeping track off the traffic in front of and behind me.
Needless to say I was a little rattled but a little bit of driving education would have gone a long way towards avoiding an accident and a seatbelt might have saved her from the severe injury.
From the opinion:
In May 1999, plaintiff purchased her vehicle, a used 1997 Ford Explorer with approximately 29,000 miles, from Freehold. Until the accident on November 10, 2000, she did not experience a sticking throttle. Freehold performed two minor repairs unrelated to the throttle system, without telling her that her vehicle might be subject to throttle problems or that Ford had a program to replace the throttle body at no cost. Zakrocki v. Ford Motor Co. 2009 WL 2243986, 1 (N.J.Super.A.D.) (N.J.Super.A.D.,2009)***On October 19, 1998, Ford sent dealers a technical service bulletin about 1997 and 1998 Ford Explorers and 1998 Mercury Mountaineers with the same engine as plaintiff's vehicle. The memorandum had been prompted by customer reports of a “throttle stuck at idle,” with a “common concern” of “a hard to depress accelerator pedal first thing in the morning or after being parked for several hours.” The bulletin named the conditions it addressed as “hesitation-throttle hard to depress,” “surge-throttle hard to depress,” or “throttle-sticky accelerator pedal.” The “action” was for the dealers to “[i]nstall a new throttle body assembly,” in which the “[c]learance between [the] throttle plate and bore has been increased to reduce the possibility of sticking.” The replacements would be covered by the vehicle warranty. Mark Hoffman, a Ford employee, noted that the bulletin provided dealerships with information on how to handle such complaints, but it was not an instruction for them to replace the throttle bodies on all subject vehicles. Zakrocki v. Ford Motor Co. 2009 WL 2243986, 5 (N.J.Super.A.D.) (N.J.Super.A.D.,2009)
I’d put that at being far more responsible for the extent of her injuries due to the accident than anything else.
Under New Jersey Law, the recovery of a Plaintiff injured due to failure to wear a seat belt will have his or her damages reduced by a maximum of 50%. Their case will never be dismissed because of their failure to protect themselves.