Tonawanda, N.Y. (WBEN) - Another local municipality will be joining a national lawsuit against car manufacturers Kia and Hyundai, as car thefts continue to be a prevalent issue nationwide.
The Town of Tonawanda has decided to join cities and municipalities like Buffalo and Rochester, in litigation that seeks to hold Kia and Hyundai accountable for placing profits over safety and manufacturing and distributing cars that you could steal just by using a USB charger.
Related
"Over Memorial Day, we had an officer who was dragged 30 feet by somebody who stole a Kia," said Town of Tonawanda Supervisor Joe Emminger. "He was dragged and got sent to the hospital on Memorial Day. That officer is still now back to work, and we believe that the residents of the town, the taxpayers of the town should be compensated for this loss and this irresponsible action by Kia and Hyundai that resulted in the ability for people to readily and easily have auto thefts."
LISTEN LIVE TO WBEN:
According to reports, Kia and Hyundai failed to install engine immobilisers in a majority of their cars manufactured from 2011-2021.
"The technology is out there where they could have stopped this. Kia and Hyundai employ this technology," says Emminger. "They reportedly did not use these immobilizers in their vehicles in the United States because it wasn't required. So because they wanted to save a few bucks, they allowed these thefts to happen, they allowed injuries to happen. We're just thankful that our officer was not hurt worse than he was."
Emminger says so far in 2023, about 70 cars have been stolen in the town, half of them are Kias and Hyundais.