Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The Town of Tonawanda became the most recent municipality in the United States to join the national lawsuit against vehicle manufacturers Kia and Hyundai.
The lawsuit aims to hold the two companies accountable for putting citizens' lives in danger, the result of both Kia and Hyundai allegedly not installing proper safety features in their vehicles, such as an engine immobilizer.
This is the second lawsuit Kia and Hyundai are facing this year after settling with vehicle owners in a previous suit for $200 million.
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"At that time, it seemed to be a rather large settlement, because we were in the infancy stages of revealing the damage that's occurred because of not having the immobilizer in the car," says local attorney Terry Connors of Connors LLP.
Despite not having an engine immobilizer equipped in their vehicles from 2011 to 2021, Kia and Hyundai vehicles still checked enough boxes to be cleared for sale. Connors says, though, that doesn't let the manufacturers off the hook, as this isn't a negligence case.
"What they're saying is your conduct violated industry standards across the board, and it resulted in creating a public nuisance that affected the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of our municipality," he said.
Kia issued a response to the lawsuit on Tuesday, saying the claims are without merit as the company complied to industry safety standards.
According to Connors, Kia misunderstands what the actual pretext of the lawsuit is based on. He says if the plaintiffs can establish the lack of safety features in Kia and Hyundai vehicles created a safety issue, then Kia's claim of having followed industry standards will be deemed irrelevant.
"That's where the weakness is in their defense, and that's why they've settled [the previous case] for millions of dollars and will probably settle the rest of them," Connors said.
More from Connors is available in the player below: