Man sues Mazda for $5 million after ‘stepping on the brakes’

The lawsuit stems from an incident in which a man’s daughter accidentally put her car in neutral and then failed to stop it from rolling away.

Pennsylvania resident Joshua Meltzer bought a brand new Mazda CX-50 in May, but things quickly went wrong when his daughter got into an accident while driving it. Now, he is suing Mazda, claiming a significant safety defect. What is this significant safety defect, you might ask?

Apparently, the instruction to “press the brake to start the vehicle” is too vague. Meltzer doesn’t think it provides enough clarity, so he hopes others will join his class action lawsuit against this automotive hazard.

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The unnamed daughter’s incident occurred about two weeks after purchasing the car. Despite the so-called “fatherly advice” she received, she appears to have misunderstood – or outright ignored – the operating instructions. Whether it was a simple mix-up or a series of errors, it’s safe to say the blame lies with someone else, not the family.

Event Details

The key section of the lawsuit is as follows: “She pressed the ‘Stop-Start’ button. The display then prompted her to ‘Apply brake to start vehicle.’ She then applied the brake and shifted the vehicle from Park to Drive. The vehicle immediately began to roll backwards. She attempted to control the vehicle, including applying the brakes, but the power brakes and power steering did not respond.”

What did she do? She got out of her car and crashed it into a tree. This must be all Mazda’s fault, right? Notice that the lawsuit specifically mentions “power brakes and power steering.” This would seem to indicate normal brake and steering functions were working, but not in power assist mode.

User error or manufacturer fault?

Was she too weak to fully depress the brakes without power assistance? Was she unable to turn the steering wheel without power assistance? Was she ignoring the fact that she never heard the engine start? We may not know the answer, but the dealer and Mazda North America say the vehicle is running fine. This seems to fit the rumor mill, as Mazdas aren’t rolling out in every corner of the United States.

The plaintiffs want Mazda to use better communication features in its vehicles to tell customers when the vehicle is in accessory mode, ignition mode, and when it is on. The lawsuit applies to all Mazda models with push-button start built after 2017. Oddly, when I drove the CX-50, I didn’t experience the situation that Melzer accused Mazda of.

Interestingly, the lawsuit states that the dealership’s service manager stated that the daughter had set the car to accessory mode, causing the car to “fail” to park. This sounds like a (possibly former) service employee trying to soften the blow of the driver’s mistake.

Whose fault is this?

Was this just a case of the father being embarrassed by his daughter’s inability to control the car? Perhaps this case will resolve that. We’ll be watching closely to see how this unfolds. What doesn’t seem to be in dispute is that the brakes worked, the daughter didn’t press hard enough, and she didn’t realize the engine didn’t start. In your opinion, was this really Mazda’s fault? Let us know what you think in the comments.