Inset: Sue Rooney. Background: The 2020 Land Rover Discovery that allegedly killed California mother and grandmother Sue Rooney in her daughter's driveway (KCRA/YouTube).
A California woman was mowed down by her own Land Rover in her daughter's driveway after the SUV "malfunctioned," a lawsuit says.
Sue Rooney, a 70-year-old grandmother from Sacramento, was "run over and killed" by her own 2020 Land Rover Discovery on May 15, her family says in a legal complaint obtained by Law&Crime.
"This incident was avoidable because the vehicle contains all of the equipment necessary to prevent unintended rollaways but the vehicle's manufacturer — Jaguar Land Rover — opted not to enable the features that would have secured the vehicle when it detected Ms. Rooney exited with the engine on and the transmission not in park," the complaint says.
Jaguar Land Rover, which is named as a defendant, "negligently, recklessly and carelessly manufactured, designed, developed, processed, produced, assembled, built, tested, inspected, installed, warned, equipped, endorsed, exported, wholesaled … and/or otherwise distributed" Rooney's Land Rover and its "defective gear selector, which malfunctioned and caused the subject vehicle to roll away and strike [Rooney], resulting in her untimely death," according to the complaint.
Rooney's family says her death is "particularly egregious" because Jaguar Land Rover has been sued on at least two other occasions as a result of others being allegedly injured and killed by their own vehicles running them over.
"Countless others have complained to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) about unintended rollaway incidents in Jaguar Land Rover vehicles," the complaint alleges. "Jaguar Land Rover thus knows that its vehicles are death traps, and it can fix the problem with a simple software update. Yet, apparently afraid of the negative publicity that will result from a voluntary recall or similar corrective action, Jaguar Land Rover has decided to leave hundreds of thousands of unsafe vehicles on the road."
Rooney's loved ones say Jaguar Land Rover's "callous disregard for the safety of its vehicle owners" ultimately led them to lose "the glue in our family," according to daughter Erin Farrell.
"She's what kept our family strong," Farrell told local NBC affiliate KCRA.
"She was happiest when we were all at her house, eating her food," said another daughter, Kathleen Rooney. "She was happiest watching her grandkids."
That's exactly what Sue Rooney was doing the day she died, according to her family members, who say she had just finished babysitting when the incident occurred.
"She got inside her car and started her car and then she exited her car to tell my husband something, and the car started moving in reverse," Kathleen Rooney told KCRA. "The car door hit her. She fell on the ground, and then the car rolled over her. On my flat driveway."
The family's attorney, Dylan Ruga, says their goal is to "hold Jaguar Land Rover accountable for selling a vehicle that they know is defective and not doing anything about it," KCRA reports.
"It lacks what is referred to as a driver exit strategy, which is technology to secure the vehicle when it detects a driver exiting with the transmission not in park," Ruga told the outlet.
Farrell said, "There needs to be change. Like this car cannot continue to be on the road and continue to potentially take lives."
Jaguar Land Rover sent KCRA a statement on the lawsuit, saying, "JLR is committed to the safety of our customers and is saddened to hear of this incident. As this matter is now related to pending litigation, we will not comment further."
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