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What We Are Up To NowSuzuki Settles Rollover Case
On August 5, 2004 the Ambrosini family was driving their 2002 Suzuki XL 7 on I-75 from Naples to Fort Lauderdale when disaster struck. Mrs. Ambrosini was driving, Mr. Ambrosini was asleep in the front seat and their three children, Carolina (age 9), Diego (age 3) and Arthur, Jr. (age 7), were sitting side by side in the bench seat behind their parents. When Mrs. Ambrosini went to change lanes she noticed a car in her blind spot and turned the wheel quickly to get back into her original lane. That motion – the quick turn of the steering wheel – caused the XL 7 to go up on two wheels, start to shake uncontrollably and then tip up on the other two wheels. The vehicle then rolled over while still on the pavement and eventually came to rest down an embankment. During the course of the rollover Diego and Arthur, Jr. were ejected and died from injuries sustained when they struck the pavement. The family’s lawyer in Broward County asked us to pursue the matter and determine whether a design defect in the vehicle caused the fatal rollover. We agreed. After consulting with expert engineers and conducting a preliminary investigation of how the accident happened we proceeded to file a lawsuit against American Suzuki Motor Corporation (the U.S. importer) and Suzuki Motor Corporation (the Japanese manufacturer.) The case was predicated on the simple premise that Mrs. Ambrosini had done nothing wrong; that she had been driving the SUV just like she was suppose to and the simple act of turning the steering wheel to avoid a car in the blind spot should not cause a rollover. It is a maneuver that is done countless times every day and a well designed vehicle should not rollover under those circumstances. Eleven months after the case was filed and two years before it was to be tried to a jury a settlement was reached with Suzuki. The terms of the settlement are confidential and we are not permitted to describe it in any way.
Although the lawsuit is over, Mr. and Mrs. Ambrosini will never get over the loss of their children or the grief they experience because of what happened that day. |
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