Firm Reaches Confidential Settlement For Wrongful Death and Brain Injury Following Carbon Monoxide Poison Incident Caused By Keyless Car

Don Fountain and Ben Whitman were hired to represent a family devastated by the defective design of a vehicle’s ignition and key system. After returning home one evening, a couple in the West Palm Beach,

Florida area parked the vehicle in their garage, took the key fob into the home, and went to bed. Despite removing the key fob from the vehicle, the vehicle’s engine was never turned off and Carbon Monoxide exhaust fumes from the vehicle permeated throughout the home for hours.

One of the home’s occupants died from complications related to the Carbon Monoxide exposure and the other suffered severe brain injuries. The law firm advanced the theory that the design of the keyless ignition system was defective because it can lull a driver into thinking that the engine is turned off while it is in fact running and producing Carbon Monoxide fumes. The law firm also argued that the vehicle’s manufacturer should have incorporated a series of warnings that should alert the vehicle’s engine is still running or that the engine should shut off automatically when the key fob is removed from the vehicle. The vehicle manufacturer agreed to a significant confidential settlement before a lawsuit was filed.