PITTSBURGH - A Pennsylvania couple have sued Hyundai Motors, claiming faulty manufacturing was the cause of the husband’s head injury during a car collision.
Luke and Carol Grmek allege their 2006 Santa Fe failed to properly protect occupants during a head-on collision. They claim in a lawsuit filed in Westmoreland County that Hyundai was negligent when it manufactured the vehicle.
“Due to the car’s defective design, seatbelted plaintiff Luke Grmek struck his head on the steering wheel during a crash -- the car’s restraint systems should have prevented this second collision,” the complaint said.
The defendant has removed the case to U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
The plaintiff is said to have suffered a serious head injury due to the incident, one that has “permanent and life-changing consequences,” according to the complaint.
The collision happened on Aug. 3, 2016 on West Newton Street in Westmoreland County. According to the complaint, Luke’s vehicle was at the intersection of West Newton Street and the Route 30 West ramp when another vehicle ran a stop sign.
This caused a head-on collision between the vehicles, the suit says. In this initial collision, the airbags in Luke’s vehicle did not deploy, the suit says.
The two-car collision caused Luke’s head to hit the steering wheel, the plaintiffs claim. They included several photographs of damage to the wheel allegedly caused by the force of Luke’s body hitting it.
“The amount of crush on the front end of the Involved Car indicates that it was traveling at approximately 15-20 miles per hour at the time of the Initial Collision,” the court filing stated. “A driver wearing a seat belt involved in a crash at these speeds should not hit their head on the steering wheel.”
The court filing noted that Luke went through different levels of treatments for the damage to his head, including private physicians, in-home rehabilitation as well as a neuro-rehabilitation residential program specializing in traumatic brain injury.
The Grmeks have demanded a jury trial for the case.