Chevrolet 1500 Pickup Truck Lawsuit Filed Over Structural Failure

A product liability lawsuit has been filed against General Motors of Canada, Ltd. by the family of a Texas man who they say was killed when the structure of his Chevrolet 1500 pick-up truck failed during an accident.

The Chevrolet lawsuit was filed by the family of Randall Newman on January 5 in the Marshall Division of the Eastern District of Texas, according to a report in The Southeast Texas Record. The family claims that Newman’s truck failed to meet crashworthiness standards.

Newman suffered fatal injuries in an accident on July 17, 2008, when his 2002 Chevrolet 1500 truck was hit by another vehicle while crossing an intersection. Newman’s pick-up truck was struck on the drivers’ side door, driving parts of the truck and brush guard into the passenger’s compartment.

The wrongful death lawsuit alleges that the truck’s design and marketing was unreasonably dangerous and defective, and claim that if the truck had met accepted crashworthiness standards, then the passenger survival space would not have been destroyed. The pillar, roof rail and other safety systems in place all failed to keep occupants in the vehicle reasonably safe, according to the complaint.

The plaintiffs argue that affordable, available technology existed at the time of the truck’s design that would have made it able to better survive the impact, but GM did not utilize them.

The lawsuit charges GM of Canada with gross negligence, product liability, and seeks compensation for economic loss, mental anguish, loss of companionship, medical expenses, funeral and burial expenses, among other damages.