Volkswagen Passat Lawsuit Over Sudden Acceleration Results in $4.8M Verdict

Irvin Jackson

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A Georgia jury has awarded $4.8 million in damages in a product liability trial over an accident that was allegedly caused by sudden, unintended acceleration of a Volkswagen Passat. 

The case was brought by Cheryl Bullock against Volkswagen Group of America and Honeywell International, which made a turbocharger installed in the vehicle.

Bullock was severely injured in a 2011 accident in which her car accelerated out of control and slammed into truck. According to the lawsuit, the vehicle suddenly accelerated and Bullock could not stop it. Bullock was permanently disabled in the accident, suffering internal injuries, broken legs, and neck fractures. Her 5-year-old daughter was in the backseat of the vehicle but was unharmed.

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Following a trial in Columbus, Georgia, found that Bullock had suffered $8 million in damages, but determined that while she was 40% responsible for the crash. With the two manufacturers found to be 60% of the fault, an award of $4.8 million was entered.

According to the complaint, the Honeywell turbo charger was defectively designed, which led to the failure of a seal that allowed oil into the air intake system, sending a surge of acceleration through the vehicle.

Testimony presented at trial indicated that the brakes showed signs of severe wear, indicating Bullock desperately tried to stop the vehicle to no avail. Her broken ankles also bore similar injuries to those suffered by pilots who bear down on the rudder pedals during a plane crash.

Attorneys for the defendants noted that Bullock had a history of seizures and attempted to convince the jury that she suffered one, causing the crash. They also noted that the defect had not been seen in other vehicles of the same make.

Both sides are likely to issue appeals. Bullock’s attorneys want the apportionment of blame to Bullock to be thrown out, and the defendants want the verdict completely overturned.

Similar problems with sudden acceleration led to the recall of millions of Toyota and Lexus vehicles in 2009 and 2010.

As a result of problems with unintended acceleration, at least $1.4 billion in Toyota settlements have reportedly been paid by the auto maker, including class action lawsuits brought by owners of various Toyota and Lexus vehicles who alleged the value of their cars were lowered. The auto maker also faced a number of personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits over the unintended acceleration problems.

Irvin Jackson
Written by: Irvin Jackson

Senior Legal Journalist & Contributing Editor

Irvin Jackson is a senior investigative reporter at AboutLawsuits.com with more than 30 years of experience covering mass tort litigation, environmental policy, and consumer safety. He previously served as Associate Editor at Inside the EPA and contributes original reporting on product liability lawsuits, regulatory failures, and nationwide litigation trends.

Tags: Auto Accident, Volkswagen

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9 Comments

Kathleen
I would like to get involved in a class action lawsuit. I wonder if you, Allison, would also like to get involved in a class action lawsuit. I am not getting much help on that front. I need to get a few people together who have had a similar problem. Email me if you think it’s worth a try.
Kathleen
My driver’s license has been suspended because of a sudden unintended acceleration event —- accident not my fault. It has been a horrible year spending thousands of dollars to get around —ACCIDENT NOT MY FAULT.
Kathleen
This is about an sudden unintended acceleration event.
Alison
Have shared comments earlier…under Alison…there needs to be, collectively, a class-action suit before someone is killed…we are all lucky to be alive…
Kathleen
I had a sudden unintended acceleration event on June 21, 2021.
Kathleen
On April 8, 2019 I was parking my car at the grocery store when the car suddenly went out of control and crashed into the building. My foot was on the brake the whole time this was happening. Again on June 21, 2021 the same thing happened with the same car. I was parking my car this time at my condo when with my foot on the brake my car went out of control like it had a mind of its own and crashed into the building. I was lucky that this didn’t happen on the highway. As it was my seat belt was on and the air bags deployed, otherwise I might have been killed or seriously hurt. As a result of the accident my driver’s license was suspended — accident not my fault — my foot was on the brake. I have to date spent close to $20,000 hiring a lawyer, but most of that money was spent on ubers to get around. I wonder if anyone else has had an experience like that in a volkswagen. I was told that I should get involved in a class action law suit. I would certainly do that if I could find a lawyer who would help me.
Kathleen
this is about a sudden unintended event.
Alison
Re Unintended acceleration: I experienced the first incident in Sept., 2018 where I was pulling into a forward parking space, facing the side wall , very slowly, and my 2009 VW-Jetta accelerated violently and jumped the curb and propelled me into the cement wall of the above mentioned Kroger’s. As I struck the wall the car continued to accelerate as I bounced off the wall and turned to the right and struck the parked car in the space next to my space. Finally, the car stopped because the other car was an obstruction and I was able to put the car in “park”. There was a police report filed with an HPD officer to came to the scene. Of course, I was wearing my seat belt, and the air bag did not deploy. Had a second incident , Aug., 2021, same acceleration problem pulling into a parking spot at the library where the car again jumped the curb, accelerating beyond control and I struck the wood fence facing the parking space and my car went through the wood fence into another vacant lot, and it would not stop even after applying the brakes, and I crashed thru another wood fence and I veered to the right to avoid a playground of the adjacent church, and struck a third fence where I was able to put the car in park. Air bag did not deploy. My car was obviously totaled this time and I contacted VW Headquartes/Cust. Care in Rochester, MI, and they said they would be passing my experience onto the NHTSA , and the customer care person said it was not in his job description to help me financially with the loss of my car! The first incident in 2018, VW Service Center said it was due to the ABS brake system, and they replaced the module. The damage to my car that time was $5K. The damage to the adjacent car in the parking space was $14K. Obviously, the replacement ABS module did not solve the unintended acceleration problem with my VW Jetta, and I’m fortunate to be alive through these two events. I told the VW Headquarters, “someone is going to be killed, if you don’t recognize this unintended acceleration problem going back many years with the VW-Jetta. Please help me in receiving some kind of financial compensation, not to mention the emotional trauma. It was as though I was in a Stephen King horror movie. I’m now without a car.
Kathleen
I too had an sudden unintended acceleration event when I was parking my car and the car suddenly sped up out of control and crashed into a building.

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