BMW, MINI, Mercedes-Benz, Fiat Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Acura, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, Infiniti, Toyota, Lexus, Volkswagen and Bentley are all being sued by consumers in the US who claim that the 10 carmakers concealed the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning in more than five million vehicles equipped with keyless ignition systems. The risks, the plaintiffs claim, have led to 13 deaths.
According to Automotive News, the complaint filed in the US District Court in Los Angeles states that the toxic gas is emitted when drivers leave their vehicles running, sometimes in garages attached to homes, when they take their key fobs with them, under the mistaken belief that the engines will shut off automatically. They don’t, of course.
From the perspective of the drivers, they believe that the defendants, the car companies, had known the risks of keyless ignition for years, at least since 2003, and yet the companies marketed these vehicles as safe.
“Plaintiffs believed the automakers’ repeated promises that the affected vehicles were safe,” the complaint said. “In fact they are not.” The plaintiffs believe that the automakers could have prevented the 13 deaths, simply by adding a feature to automatically turn off unattended engines. Apparently, GM and Ford had even taken steps to patent a shut-off feature.
The plaintiffs claim that 27 complaints have already been lodged with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration since 2009 over keyless ignitions, and that the lawsuit will seek an injunction to require automakers to install an automatic shut-off feature, in addition to seeking compensatory and punitive damages as well.
Automotive News tried reaching out to all the automakers concerned, as well as the lawyers for the plaintiffs, but none of the parties offered any comments. Even the NHTSA is not commenting on the issue.
Apparently, the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has revealed that approximately 430 people in the US die as a result of unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning every year.
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Sure the judge will not let platiff win the court case, otherwise he will not able to use the smartkey anymore in the future.
They should come to Malaysia and see. Our car companies, namely Toyota, got no VSC also and has caused so many accidents and deaths (only 2 airbags) and yet, nobody in Malaysia can sue.
Why?
UMW is GLC and nobody can sue dictator Government.
That is why UMW sales are so bad now. Everybody boycott Toyota because they give very low spec cars.
Now Toyota has the worst RV. Altis 1.8 2013 September model, low mileage and accident free asking for RM65k. I call the used car dealer, he said even RM60k also he settle.
New Altis RM139k. In less than 2 years, Altis can drop more than 60% of the price.
If you sue UMW, they will just show you their lancau. Kes tutup.
#SamLoo
Why Proton never get sued?
In Malaysia, Exora give free death and cremation (like 2 in 1 shampoo) also, Proton tell the owner to go to hell.
Remember that dude whose Exora exploded, Proton found all sorts of excuses to blame the owner and said it was not Proton’s fault.
So Proton is even better. No accountability and free sucking billions of RM per year from the rakyat.
I cant find any altis 2013 with 60k… pls forward the contact to me..
I wan to buy
You see, when all the cars in the world get sued, only one company in the world don’t get sued and that is PROTON.
Why?
Proton is namely private company but is still protected by the Government to ensure all the cronies and bumies get their share to songlap.
Eventhough nobody buys Proton because of their rubbish quality but their sales still increases. Why? They can still sell to SPANCO, another crony company linked to Proton.
Now Proton launches the Sxxx Plus, without basic safety like ABS, much less VSC. This is a joke for a company which is known as “Volvo of Asia”. Proton is also only company which requires the car key to be inserted for a push start.
If you want to talk about Proton’s RV, then don’t as when car like Exora get burned, it is RM0k. The only thing you can claim is the insurance
Seriusly bro? Seriusly?? Do you even read ? They sued the car company mainly in U.S. Here in Malaysia, no one sued the Proton. IF you want to, you can sued them provided you have the right facts. Please bash use your brain.
And also, you should pursue those who had their Exora burned to sue the Proton.
Sue Proton got use meh? Will the authorities take action or close down Proton?
They should come to Malaysia and see, our national company, namely Proton, car got burned and cause so many accidents and yet, nobody in Malaysia can sue?
Exora, also known as Proton Panggang or BBQ Car has not once but multiple times suffers cooling problem which results in overheating. Proton known this but the arrogant “Jaguh Kampung” company does not want to recall their car, said no problem.
Proton’s service is so bad that when JD Power did a survey, unsurprisingly it scored last in customer satisfaction. Everybody boycott Proton because their service sucks, when car got problem, don’t want to recall. That is why Proton sales are so bad right now
don’t you need to press the start/stop button in order to switch off the car? It is a start/STOP button by the way, not only start. Stupid consumers will always baffle me
Agree! Wht stupid Yankees that will sue anything under the sky. The car companies never marketed the concept of “engine auto-shut” with the keyless entry system. I use a KIA with keyless entry. There will be a buzzer when you leave the car running with the key fob out from the car. That is to remind driver to shut the engine. Baffling indeed over there…
One of the classic lawsuit is the McDonald Hot Coffee spilled on to the lap in a moving car.
Ya, what make them think that the car will auto shut-off the engine? Can’t they see that with the Keyless ignition system, they still need to press a button to start the engine…… don’t tell me their keyless ignition system are so smart that when the driver enter the car with the key fob the engine will auto start…. :-D
If it is not, then naturally they need to press a button to shut it off, since they need to press a button to start the engine….. common…
Those 10 companies should sued them back for being an idiot and wasting their time.
Americans are ignorant, aren’t they? Thinking the engine will shut off itself.
That or simply foolish.
Yes， they are. Same here as people thought all cars (especially Proton) should be, and must be as reliable as Toyota. Thinking garage and repair bill will never come.
That or simply foolish.
Toyota is not as reliable as before while p1 has much improved. Go figure.
Yeah, P1 Exora still the most reliable
is it soooo difficult to press a button to shut the engine? this is way overboard lah. why, finger busy ding something else is it?
actually the engine will auto shut off by itself. but maybe need to wait for several hours.. just wait.. wait.. wait more.. and it’s off.. this means the oil tank is empty! what the yankees need is smaller fuel tank. so they get less waiting period.
You forget to shut off the car, how can you blame the manufacturer for your own shitty mistake?
Press the bloody ignition button that clearly says “on/off” people. How lazy can you get. Who parks a car, leaves and expects it to shut down automatically? Sheesh. These people should be sued instead, for operating a car in a dangerous manner and causing 13 deaths.
Real problem is not the keyless start….its between the steering wheel and the seat.
next thing they want to sue is mother nature for rain and thunder.
You would not believe what sort of lawsuits are filed there in the states. Just google for most outrageous lawsuits and see all sort of absurd cases there where they actually won. Don’t be surprised that these 13 idiots will actually win this case despite how absurd it sounds.
I believe there were more than 13 people were killed in road traffic accident, as they were playing with mobile phone while driving.
Poor lawyer should have sue the mobile phone company and make more money then.
Don’t they see education is more important?
Americans… always blame everybody and everything else except themselves.
Sounds like Malaysians here nowadays
Sorry, but these people are just stupid. Technology has made them lazy and incompetent. Is turning a key so hard ? I can understand why people don’t want manuals, but this is too much.
I HAVE NEVER liked keyless ignition/ entry. To me, it’s such a flawed, syiok sendiri and useless piece of technology. Keyless ignition/ entry is more of an inconvenience than a convenience to me, because I will always think “what if my car didn’t/ forgot to lock itself ?”. I prefer to turn my car on and off with a key, I want to be assured control over my car, because I don’t trust technology enough with regards to security when it comes to a costly car or house. Sometimes, old school is still the best. That’s my opinion of course, I understand that a lot of people like keyless systems and that’s just fine; your car, your responsibility.
Sir, I do respect your opinion and your preference to be ol’skool. But keyless system has been there for years (usually in the upmarket models). Now it has been THE technology across the market. Keyless start system ACTUALLY is more of a technological application compared to just being an aesthetic feature. It has been scientifically proven to save 20% of fuel consumption. This saving is coming from the revving motion from ignition key start-up. Drivers usually will rev the accelerator 2-3 pumps (or more) upon engine start. Keyless start does not need any revving by the driver once it fires the engine up. That is where the 20% fuel saving comes. I have researched this before and keyless start was THE key decider when I purchased my car.
any links to support the research?
Who revs engine anymore??? Lol… pull choke to warm up?
Sory 2 say ya! I hv some reason & why?
==>> new tech vs old tech
~ new tech always develop TO SOLVE the OLD TECH PROB. Why? If i use ignition key, everytime i want to open car door, 1. Take key from pocket 2. Push unlock key 3. Keep key in hand 4. Push brake 5. Rotate ignition key… & WHAT SMART key DONE? 1. Go to ur car 2. Just open the door handle 3. Push brake & start button… do u realize wht diff?… by the way ford smart key CAN OFF the engine via 1. Push start off button @already stop engine , then TO CONFIRM 2. Touch the black square touch button & the side mirror will close which CONFIRM the car engine 100% stop.. no worries
always suing car makers doesn’t necessarily mean making things better
the case is in the place where Kinder Surprise is banned. Not surprising at all
Just put the sensor on the seat like the seat belt sensor. If nobody is on the driver seat more than 10 minutes just let the system trigger the engine off.
so, they didn’t turn off the engine, and when too much exhaust fumes built up, which led to death, they sue the manufacturer ?
seriously, can i sue honda for not giving me a auto start system for my 100k car ?
they can afford to own a keyless ignition car..but sadly they can’t afford to have a working brain
I agree with them. The auto makers should install the auto stop engine. What if someone high jack your car? If they install the auto stop for sure your car automatically stop if you are force to leave your car…
To do that, you can install an immobilizer/security system (GPS-based). After 100meters, the car will shutdown. Some makes provide this as factory-fitted but there will always be a trade-off…. selling price! Will you take this option with a premium tag on the car?
I agree with them. The auto makers should install the auto stop engine. What if someone high jack your car? If they install the auto stop for sure your car automatically stop if you are forced to leave your car…
At first I was curious why ONLY 10 automakers sued? Then realised, wait, some of those are big groups like Fiat Chrysler, which has Ferrari & Maserati in the group. Most of the American companies are in GM. But where is Subaru (I dont think they are considered part of Toyota group), Audi & Lamborghini (considered as part of VW?), and Mazda? Do their cars automatically shut down the engine when the driver leaves the car?
Plaintif always hv reason to sue the company. Before they made desicion ti sue car maker of course the already know percentage to win & loose the case.. they@lawyer can make large sum of money if they win. That why they bring up the case! If not, no body wants a job without any profit in it. Sure!
lol, happened to me a few times forgetting to switch off the engine, because it’s so quite. But as soon as you step out of the car with the engine on, It will let out a loud beep to remind you that the engine is on, so I guess most people will already notice their engines are still running ??
Don’t just listen to the be fine running sound la..
There are lights all over the dashboard right in front of your eyesright indicating that the car is running. Unless your dashboard light continues to lit even after cutting off the engine la. Which I doubt. I drive a keyless almera and driven Prius and Forte. All of which turns off the dash light immediately after cutting off the engine.
If ever there was a pointless invention in cars, keyless ignition wd definatly top the list….
This only applies to people with no common sense and too damn ignorant to care..
Who the heck keeps their car engine running while going into the house..
Seriously, even a caR with a key if u let it run without moving, it will produce carbon monoxide. Wtf is this lawsuit? Thats hw ppl commit suicide in past…connecting exhaust into the car window and let the car run n they died in sleep. Ita due to carbon monoxide. So this article is invalid
WTF is this?! This is like sueing car companies over risk using up annual leave due to engine/gearbox failure.
“when drivers leave their vehicles running, sometimes in garages attached to homes, when they take their key fobs with them, under the mistaken belief that the engines will shut off automatically. They don’t, of course.”
This. I can’t even…….
This push start button crap is from the 70’s. People are just too stupid to see its a fad. We will get to a point where absolutely EVERYTHING is electronic and transmitting radiowaves. People are becoming tech zombies.