Fred Eisenberg and Dan Sherry recently filed a lawsuit against Mack Trucks, Inc., on behalf of a wife whose husband was severely injured when he was thrown from the Mack Truck he was driving after a low-speed collision with a fixed object. The lawsuit alleges design and manufacturing defects in the driver’s side door caused the plaintiff’s husband to be thrown from the vehicle which then rolled over him.
According to the lawsuit, on August 14, 2020, Julio Rodriguez, of Reading, Pennsylvania, was driving a 2014 Mack Truck at a low speed in the parking lot of a CVS located in Landisville, Pennsylvania. When the vehicle collided with a fixed object, Mr. Rodriguez was thrown from the vehicle, which then rolled over him. As a result of the incident, Mr. Rodriguez suffered catastrophic injuries, including neurologic injuries, causing him to become totally incapacitated and to suffer significant conscious pain and suffering. Due to his injuries, Mr. Rodriguez is no longer able to care for himself.
Mr. Rodriguez was thrown from the vehicle, according to the lawsuit, because of design and manufacturing defects in the driver’s side door. The door was allegedly defective because it did not (i) protect Mr. Rodriguez from being thrown from the vehicle, (ii) remain closed during the incident, or (iii) properly close and latch when Mr. Rodriguez last closed the door before the incident. In addition, the vehicle did not have an alert system notifying Mr. Rodriguez that the door was not latched, nor did it have written warnings about the dangers caused by these defects.
The lawsuit alleges Mack Trucks was strictly liable and negligent under Pennsylvania law for designing, manufacturing, testing, assembling, marketing, distributing, and selling a defective vehicle that was unreasonably dangerous to its operators and consumers because of the faulty driver’s side door.
“It goes without saying that when a driver or their passengers close the doors on a vehicle, the doors should stay closed for their safety, especially when the vehicle is involved in a low-speed collision,” said Fred. “Based on Mr. Rodriguez’s experience, we are gravely concerned that many Mack Trucks on our country’s roads may have defective driver’s side doors, thus posing a serious risk of catastrophic harm or death to the many drivers of Mack Trucks.”
