The plaintiff is now suing Mercedes-Benz, asking for compensation as well as a redesign of the feature to include certain safeguards.
The soft-close doors offered by Mercedes-Benz and many other premium car brands have come under scrutiny after a US man filed a lawsuit against the feature. Richard J. Kartigar Jr., the chief deputy of Pima County Sheriff Department, Arizona, USA, who owns a 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLE 450, has filed a lawsuit after the power-closing doors ripped a part of his thumb off.
The incident is said to have taken place in October 2021, with the plaintiff now suing Mercedes-Benz, asking for compensation as well as a redesign of the feature to include certain safeguards. As per the lawsuit, Kartigar Jr. had his back on the vehicle, his right hand near the B-pillar, while his right thumb was inside the door column. The doors then pulled close crushing his thumb, which was too late to restore even by emergency room physicians.
The plaintiff stated that Mercedes allegedly fails to warn its customers of the dangers of the feature, even calling it “nothing short of a modern-day guillotine”.
The soft-close doors work by reaching for a secondary latch position and then engaging with a striker located on the centre pillar. An electric motor then automatically pulls the door firmly, locking it in place. The plaintiff states that the feature can be only be disabled by specialized trained technicians.
Keyword: Mercedes-Benz face lawsuit over its Soft-Close Doors