Death By Range Rover: Mother Couldn't 'Tell When It's In Park'

A widow is suing Jaguar Land Rover after his wife was run over by her own vehicle in 2018 after thinking the car was in park.

Michael Farhat is suing on behalf of his wife, Shadi. He claims that the gear dial in the vehicles is the culprit of the accident, saying his wife had constantly complained about the dial.

“Mrs. Farhat repeatedly complained that she could not tell when the vehicle was in park, struggling to operate the gear selector that is a dial that 'pops out' of the dashboard console and rotates to select gears,” the Daily Mail reported.

Shadi was parking her 2017 Range Rover whilst in a Los Angeles lot when the accident occurred. She stepped out of the vehicle after she had thought she turned the dial to “park,” but the SUV rolled back on top of her as she was exiting the vehicle on the driver’s side.

While she was able to get up after the accident, but collapsed right after and died a few days later. She's survived by her husand and her two daughters.

Mr. Farhat explained that the company knew about this problem for at least a year. He also included in his lawsuit that there were 28 complaints of similar instances in Range Rovers, CBS stated.

There have been almost four years of investigations from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration when it comes to “unintended rollaways” with these specific vehicles.

The previous investigations concluded in August, explaining that there are no identified faults in the car, whether it be mechanical or electrical. There’s nothing in the Range Roger that causes the shift dial to something other than what the operator put in it, the company explained.

Jaguar Land Rover released a statement to assure confused owners and possible future owners.

"Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC is committed to the safety of our customers and is saddened to hear of these incidents. As this matter is now related to pending litigation, we are unable to comment further," the company said in a statement.

This also isn’t the first time the company has been sued for the issue.

Gina Warsavsky, another Range Rover owner, had the same thing happen to her in November. Luckily, she was able to survive, but her right hand was run over as the car was reversing, causing her to have to get reconstructive surgery.

"I want to get it out there that there's a problem with this car," Mr. Farhat said. "I don't want anyone else to go through this again."

When these lawsuits will be resolved is unknown.