Safety Investigation into Dodge Pickups

Bruce Roberts

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into a potential defect in the Daimler-Chrysler Dodge Ram 2500 and 3500 pickup series manufactured from June 2002 through July 2005. The potential problem is that if a driver tries to put his car in park, it may be in fact be a false park.

The problem appears to be that even though the gearshift indicator looks like the truck is in park, the transmission may slip into reverse and the truck can unexpectedly start moving backwards if the driver has left the truck on. Such an event can lead to severe injuries or death should the driver be behind the truck locking a gate or some other activity.

The parked reverse problem is not limited to Dodge Ram 2500, 3500 pickups apparently. Fellow Injury Board Law blogger, Bob Carroll, has reported on a $55 million against Chrysler for a similar parked reverse problem involving 1992 Dodge Dakota pickups. According to Mr. Carroll, a California state jury returned a $50 million punitive damage award against Daimler-Chrysler for knowing and intentionally failing to cure defect in the 1992 Dodge Dakota pickup that backed over and killed Richard Marc. That same jury awarded $5.2 million in compensatory damage to Ms. Marc and her children