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DaimlerChrysler: Lawsuite because of Air Bag Misfunction Auburn Hills, February 22, 1999 - DaimlerChrysler has vowed to overturn a Pennsylvania jury's decision to award 75,000 plaintiffs $58.5 million in a class action lawsuit. The case involves a woman who credits the air bag in her 1989 Chrysler LeBaron with saving her and her unborn child from serious injury - and possibly even death - but who experienced a minor hand burn when the air bag deployed during a 1992 accident. "Ten years ago, we would have received a thank you note from a customer for the air bag having saved her life. Today, we get slapped with a multi-million dollar verdict. That is the nature of our out-of-control legal system," said DaimlerChrysler attorney Karl Lukens. "Holding DaimlerChrysler liable in this case is like holding the manufacturer of a bullet proof vest responsible because their product saved someone's life, but resulted in a few bruised ribs. This is a case about trial lawyer greed, not about a defective product." Crawley v. Chrysler is a class action suit brought on behalf of approximately 75,000 Pennsylvania residents who own Chrysler vehicles (model years last quarter of 1988, 1989 and 1990) with driver air bags that have vents at the 9 and 3 o'clock positions on the steering wheel. These vents allow for the rapid deflation of the airbag following deployment -- a critical feature in any air bag system. Only 14 of the 75,000 class members have ever had an experience similar to the named plaintiff, Louise Crawley. The plaintiffs' own expert admits that 99 percent of the members of this class action will never be involved in an accident that causes hand burns. DaimlerChrysler’s expert believes the figure is around 99.99 percent. "The overwhelming majority of the 75,000 class members are satisfied drivers of Chrysler vehicles that are now eight to 10 years old," said Lukens. "Not a single penny of this award will go to compensate anyone for any injury. In fact, the lion's share will go straight into the pockets of the trial lawyers." Lukens called air bags "the most tested safety advance in automotive history." Prior to selecting the air bag design in question, Chrysler engineers examined the records of the
"We are confident we have strong substantive grounds for appeal," Lukens said. "Ultimately, this outrageous ruling will be reversed and justice will prevail." Damages awarded by the jury are as follows: Jurors awarded $730 to each class member, and assessed $3.75 million in punitive damages. ($730 x 75,000 class = $54.75 million + $3.75 million in punitives = $58.5 million). Facts on the Crawley v. Chrysler Case Auburn Hills, February 22, 1999 - The plaintiffs’ lawyers in the Crawley v. Chrysler case have made a series of inaccurate, misleading and outright false charges against Chrysler. They include: Charge: Chrysler knew that these air bags could cause hand burns, but did nothing about it. Fact: Prior to selecting this air bag design, Chrysler consulted every available source of information, including federal safety data and performance records from other automakers, all of which used the same basic air bag design. None of these sources revealed any potential threat of hand burns - a fact conceded by the plaintiffs’ own expert witness. Additionally, extensive testing by Chrysler and Morton International -- the maker of the air bags -- did not reveal any problems with hand burns due to the vent location. Charge: Chrysler concealed all the knowledge they possessed about the danger of hand burns, allowing drivers to use unsafe vehicles. |
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Fact: When Chrysler became the first U.S. automaker to install driver’s side air bags as standard equipment, there was little information about real world air bag deployments. Chrysler individually investigated the first 171 reported deployments and discovered a few instances of minor burns as a result of air bag deployments. Even though the number of reported burns was very low and the air bag was completely safe, Chrysler took the additional steps of supplementing the owners’ manuals to provide customers with information about the issue and installing an air bag with a 12 o’clock vent position in new models. It is important to remember, however, that shifting the vent position does not eliminate the risk of burns, it merely shifts the risk to other drivers. Charge: Drivers are 10 times more likely to be burned in a Chrysler vehicle than other models. Fact: This charge is utter nonsense. There is simply no government or industry data to support this claim and the plaintiffs know it. By 1990, Chrysler had more driver’s side air bags installed than all other auto manufacturers combined. There is absolutely no evidence that people driving Chrysler vehicles were reporting a disproportionate number of hand burns. If there had been, NHTSA, the federal agency charged with auto safety, would have ordered an investigation. Source: DaimlerChrysler
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