COLUMBUS, Ohio — A second family is looking to take a car manufacturer to court after a crash involving juveniles driving stolen vehicles.
A 66-year-old New Albany man and his wife are seeking damages from Hyundai after he sustained severe injuries in a crash involving a stolen vehicle in March 2023.
“We have a teenager who stole a car driving at high speed, goes left of center on Cleveland avenue, hit [the victim] head on, he has multiple fractures throughout his body, very serious injuries, hundreds of thousands almost a million dollars of medical bills,” said attorney Terry Hummel at Schiff & Associates.
This comes after the same attorney filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the family of Matthew Moshi, who was killed after he was hit by a teen in a stolen Kia in November.
Investigators said 15-year-old Kaleb Baker ran a stop sign and crashed into him.
The teen is facing charges including aggravated vehicular homicide, but Hummel said Kia must be held accountable too.
“They have a duty to not allow their cars to be stolen. Other cars have engine immobilizers in them, Kia and Hyundai did not instill those in their cars for a number of years and engine immobilizers prevent cars from being stolen and it is that simple,” Hummel said. “They decided not to have that cost in their cars and as a result we have thousands and thousands of cars Kias and Hyundais nationwide being stolen mostly by teenagers.”
Hummel is seeking seven figures in damages for Moshi’s family left behind including his wife and two young kids.
“They lost their sole means of support, 36 years old, an accountant, he was their sole means of support,” Hummel said.
Both lawsuits accuse Kia and Hyundai of negligence and product liability.
“This is their only remedy. We can’t sue the owner of the car there is no insurance to cover a crime with a stolen car. We cannot sue the criminal, we are talking about a teenager here who isn't even supposed to be driving,” Hummel said.
This comes as the City of Columbus has filed its own lawsuits against the manufacturers.
In 2023 in Columbus, 10,660 vehicles were reported stolen and more than 5,300 of those were Hyundais or Kias.
Kia responded to the lawsuit offering condolences for the Moshi family and pointing out action Kia has taken to address theft like offering software upgrades and steering wheel locks.
It says in part:
“While we do not comment on potential litigation, it is important to note that Kia continues to take comprehensive action to enhance the security of our vehicles in an effort to prevent criminals from using methods of theft popularized on social media to break the law and steal or attempt to steal certain vehicles models."