NEWS RELEASE: March 13, 2003

For More Information Contact:
Tom "Smitty" Smith (512) 477-1155
cell (512) 797-8468

About 16 million Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles are equipped with a seat belt that fails an auto industry standard for accidental release. In other words, it can pop open without the wearer intending it to be released. Tragically, this tends to happen when vehicles are involved in sudden stops, turns, collisions or rollovers - exactly when drivers and passengers need their seat belts the most.

This seat belt, known as the Gen3, should be recalled immediately. It is patently unsafe and jeopardizes the lives of millions of Americans. We know the Gen3 is unsafe because:

• In 1992, DaimlerChrysler stopped using a standard auto industry test for seat belt safety known as the 30 millimeter ball test when it developed the Gen3 buckle. In this test, a 30 millimeter metal ball, meant to replicate an elbow, is pressed against the release button. If the buckle releases, it has failed the test. The Gen3 fails this test every time.
• To date, 14 deaths - including three in Texas -and 19 serious injuries have been blamed on Gen3 unlatchings. All but one injury occurred in the United States; the remaining injury was in Canada.
• Nearly 140 reports have been gathered over the past year from consumers who reported unlatchings, some of them multiple unlatchings on multiple occasions. Many of these involved unlatchings around child and infant car seats.
• DaimlerChrysler, U.S. and Canadian crash tests show Gen3s unlatching.
• Court testimony from DaimlerChrysler officials confirms that after viewing crash tests, they upgraded the buckles in two models, the Dodge Durango and Dodge Dakota, to safer Gen4s beginning with 1999 models. But no other models were included in the upgrade.

Consumers deserve better. How many others have been victims? Of the thousands of people estimated to die in U.S. auto crashes annually because they didn't wear their seat belts, how many, in fact, had buckled up - only to have their buckles fail them?

DaimlerChrysler owners shouldn't have to worry that their seat belts will pop open during a crash. They should have the peace of mind of knowing their seat belts are as safe as any others on the road.

If DaimlerChrysler wants to show it cares about its customers' safety, the company should replace these defective belts immediately and refrain from installing them in any vehicles in the future.

Public Citizen joins victims, survivors and the Center for Auto Safety in urging DaimlerChrysler to voluntarily replace these unsafe seat belts.

Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. with an office in Austin. Fore more information, please visit www.citizen.org.

NEWS RELEASE: March 13, 2003

For More Information Contact:
CALL Mike Kelly, 512/327-6788
Or 512/328-4276

HOUSTON, TX -- Two Houston families became the latest in the Nation to file suit against DaimlerChrysler today over the deaths of two women and injuries to three children during a holiday trip when their seat belts popped open during a collision, allowing all five to be ejected.

The Gen3 seat belt buckle, which is standard equipment in an estimated 16 million Jeep, Dodge and Chrysler products, has been blamed for at least 14 deaths and 19 serious injuries.

National and statewide consumer groups urged DaimlerChrysler to recall the buckle voluntarily. Three years ago, a Texas jury said the Gen3 was designed defectively and responsible for the death of a Corpus Christi man.

"The Gen3 seat belt is patently unsafe and should be recalled immediately," said Tom "Smitty" Smith, executive director of Texas' Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group.

Sisters-in-law Denise Mendoza, 34, and Maria Mendoza, 38, died as the result of a rollover crash near Beeville, TX, on December 29, as the two families were returning from a Christmas trip to Mexico. Their 1996 Chrysler Town and Country minivan, driven by Martin Mendoza, struck a culvert in the fog and flipped. Although all the passengers were wearing their seat belts, the two women and all three children in the rear seat were ejected when their seat belt buckles released.

Denise Mendoza died instantly. Maria Mendoza died 11 days later. The three children-Hector, 16; Daniel, 15; and Amy, 8-were injured seriously. Hector remains paralyzed.

According to the lawsuit filed in State District Court in Harris County, all of the Mendozas were wearing their seat belts at the time of the crash. Six of the seven buckles failed to stay latched, however, allowing five passengers to be ejected and the driver to be thrown into the windshield before landing between the seats.

"We have been living with unimaginable pain since that day, especially since knowing that their deaths could have been prevented, had the seat belts done their jobs," said Martin Mendoza. Mendoza's wife, Denise, and his sister-in-law, Maria, were seated in the two middle captain's chairs when the crash occurred.

"We all made a habit of buckling up and making sure our children were buckled up, just like most families," Mendoza said. "We didn't fail to buckle. Our buckles failed us."

The Gen3 buckle is distinguished by a button that protrudes significantly beyond the button cover, enough so that a falling object or flailing arms during a crash can unlatch the buckle by striking the button. In other seat belt buckles, the buttons are more flush with the button cover and must be depressed below the cover to unlatch.

According to Clarence Ditlow, head of the Washington D.C.-based Center for Auto Safety (CAS), the defect can be deadly and escapes detection because, after the crash, it appears that the occupant was not wearing a seat belt.

"In terms of seat belt defects, this is one of the worst that I've ever seen," Ditlow said. "Seat belts are your last line of defense in a crash and never should fail. Yet, Chrysler's Gen3 seat belt buckles are like a perfect crime because dead men tell no tales. After a fatal crash, the occupant is not alive to say the buckle came apart."

In 2002, CAS began calling on DaimlerChrysler to recall all Gen3 seat belt buckles and replace them with the safer Gen4 buckle.

In 2002, a Texas Jury found the Gen3 to be "defective as designed" and responsible for the death of 33-year-old Bart Moran, Corpus Christi, in a low-speed rollover collision in 1996.

Testing by an independent engineering firm hired by a national TV news network, showed that the Gen3 fails "100 percent of the time" a standard auto industry test for unintentional unlatching. In this test, a 30mm ball, which is meant to simulate an elbow, is pressed against a seat belt buckle. If it unlatches, the buckle has failed the test.

Court documents show Chrysler threw out this standard for the Gen3 and began installing them in most of their cars, starting with 1993 models. According to Chrysler engineers who testified in the Corpus Christi case, the automaker upgraded the buckles in the Dakota and Durango, beginning with 1999 models, after DaimlerChrysler engineers found that the Gen3 buckles unlatched during routine crash tests. The buckles also unlatched in subsequent U.S. and Canadian government crash tests.

"Why Chrysler did not upgrade the seat belts in its other models remains a mystery," said Billy Edwards, the attorney in the Corpus Christi case. In today's Dodge and Chrysler minivans, for example, all models since 2000 have different, improved buckles in the front seats, but still have Gen3 seat belts in the middle and rear seats.

"What is particularly alarming is that, in addition to unlatching during collisions, we have been inundated with reports from people who tell us that the Gen3 seat belt unlatches around child and infant car seats," Edwards added. "We especially want to alert consumers with young children to this fact."

A web site set up to collect information about the Gen3 has collected 138 reports to date of Gen3 unlatchings, mostly instances involving children, Edwards said. The reports have come from 35 states and Canada.

On July 3, 2002, a Texas judge granted national class action status to Gen3 owners, a development that could lead to a recall, however, DaimlerChrysler has appealed the ruling.

Meanwhile, Bart Moran's widow, Yvonne Moran, announced that she is forming a consumer coalition to recall the Gen3 to raise the visibility of the Gen3 defect and to encourage DaimlerChrysler to recall the buckle.

Mrs. Moran encouraged anyone who has experienced an incident involving the Gen3 seat belt hazard to report it through a web site, www.unsafebelts.com, and to file a complaint with their local Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealerships, as well as with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration at www.NHTSA.gov.

NEWS RELEASE: February 26, 2003

For More Information Contact:
CALL Mike Kelly, 512/327-6788
Or 512/328-4276

AUSTIN, TX - The widow of a man who died as the result of a defective seat belt came to Austin on Wednesday to urge lawmakers not to make it harder for citizens to file and win lawsuits that expose unsafe products.

"When you make it harder for average people to discover the truth and punish wrongdoing, you no longer have justice for all," said Yvonne Moran, of Sinton, TX. Moran testified before the Texas House Committee on Civil Practices, which is hearing proposals that would sharply limit access to the legal system by victims of dangerous products.

A Corpus Christi jury in 2000 found that the seat belt buckle on Bart Moran's 1997 Dodge minivan was defective in its design and responsible for his death in a low-speed rollover on December 17, 1996, in Corpus Christi. Yvonne and her daughter won a $6.7 million court award from DaimlerChrysler and the seatbelt manufacturer. The case is on appeal.

"I have been working since Bart's death to alert consumers to this defective seat belt, and to get Chrysler to recall these belts and to stop installing them in their cars. Without my court case, and the evidence of wrongdoing it provided, I wouldn't be here today to warn people about this defective product. I would be just another victim, powerless to find the truth, " Moran said.

At least 15 deaths and 18 serious injuries have been attributed to accidental unlatchings of these seat belts, known as the Gen3, Moran said. She said a web site set up to alert consumers of the danger has collected nearly 140 reports of accidental unlatchings from people all over the country. Many of these reports involve the release of Gen3 seat belts from around infant and child car seats, she said.

"I never expected to find myself in this situation. No one does. But when you do, you discover that certain rights are so precious. For me - and I hope for the people who hear my message today - the ability to take full advantage of the legal system to right a wrong - is one of the most precious.

"Please don't help silence the voice of average citizens," Moran told committee members.

More than 14 million DaimlerChrysler vehicles - including all minivans produced since 1994 - are known to be equipped with Gen3 seat belts. According to evidence compiled in the Moran case, Chrysler has known since at least 1996 that the Gen3 seat belt buckle has a tendency to come unlatched during vehicle crashes and that the buckle consistently fails a standard industry test for accidental release.

Nearly a year ago, the Washington, D.C.-based consumer group, Center for Auto Safety called on Chrysler to initiate a voluntary recall of all vehicles equipped with the Gen3 buckle and replace them with a safer design. The request was made after a nationally televised news program showed the Gen3 buckle failing a test for accidental unlatching conducted by an independent testing laboratory "100 per cent of the time."

The Gen3 buckle is distinguished by a button that protrudes significantly beyond the button cover, enough so that a loose object or flailing arms during a roll-over crash can unlatch it by striking it. In other buckles, the buttons are flusher with the button cover and must be depressed below the cover to unlatch.

Depositions in the Moran lawsuit showed Chrysler engineers testified that after viewing crash tests of the 1998 Dodge Durango and Dodge Dakota that appeared to show safety belts releasing accidentally, they recommended upgrading to the newer Gen4 seat belt buckle in these models in 1999.

Chrysler began installing Gen4 seat belt buckles in the front seats of its minivans starting with 2000 year models, but has retained Gen3 buckles in the two rear seats. A complete list of makes and models known to have been equipped with Gen3 buckles may be viewed on the following web site: www.unsafebelts.com. Or, interested persons may call 1-800-305-9768.

REMARKS OF YVONNE MORAN: February 26, 2003

House Committee on Civil Practice
Texas House of Representatives
February 26, 2003

My name is Yvonne Moran and I live in Sinton, Texas, near Corpus Christi.

On the morning of December 17, 1996, I sent my husband Bart to the grocery store to pick up something I needed for an office Christmas party. He left in our brand new, 1997 Dodge Minivan. He didn't complain. He wasn't that kind of guy. When he left, I didn't even kiss him good bye. It was a morning like any other morning. Or, so I thought.

As Bart drove to the grocery store, a high school senior, an honor student, pulled away from a stop sign and hit the side of our Dodge minivan. The boy wasn't going very fast. The experts would later say he was doing less than ten miles per hour. But it was enough to slide the minivan, and it rolled over twice. Bart was ejected. He lived only a few hours before he died. Our daughter was only 8 months old at the time. I became a widow at age 32.

When the police told me later that Bart wasn't wearing his seat belt, I knew they had to be wrong. Bart always wore his seat belt. It was our family joke, and a joke among his friends, that Bart wouldn't put the car in gear until everyone was buckled up. For a good natured, easy going guy, he was inflexible about only a few things - and wearing a seat belt was one of them.

I told the police. I told anyone who would listen that Bart could not have died because he wasn't wearing a seat belt. It had to be something else. I finally talked to a lawyer, and I finally found someone who would listen, ask questions, and not treat me like I was crazy. My lawyer's investigation of our wrecked minivan found the evidence that would unravel the mystery. During the rollover, a can of car polish inside the minivan was knocked open and its contents were splattered around the interior. The splattered car polish was found on the webbing of Bart's seat belt inside of the retractor, a location that the polish could not reach unless the belt was worn. So we knew that Bart had worn his seat belt, the question now was, why did it come off?

When my lawyer filed a lawsuit against Chrysler, we soon found out that Chrysler could have predicted that Bart's seat belt would have unlatched during the accident. We learned that the Gen3 seat belt buckle that was used in our minivan had a dangerous defect in it - it was likely to unlatch if inadvertently struck by a hand or arm during an accident. We learned that Chrysler had literally thrown out a critical safety test during the development of the Gen3 seat belt buckle, a test used by the automotive industry to assure that a buckle won't accidentally release during a wreck. We also learned that just three months before Bart was killed, a Gen3 buckle unlatched during a routine crash test at Chrysler.

At the conclusion of the trial of my case, the jury found that Bart was wearing his seat belt at the time of the wreck. The jury also found that the Gen3 buckle was defective and the cause of Bart's death. You see, all the experts, including Chrysler's experts, agreed that had Bart remained buckled he would have in all likelihood walked away from this accident with little or no injury. Perhaps some would say that I'm a winner, that the jury returned a verdict in my favor. I don't see it that way. The verdict doesn't help me when Autumn, my daughter, asks me about her father.

And some might say that I won, because my case demonstrated that the Gen3 buckle is defective. But Chrysler refuses to accept responsibility and still uses the Gen3 buckle to this day. Maybe Chrysler thinks that the 24 cents it takes to fix the buckle is too much to spend on safety. We now know of 15 deaths and 18 serious, life-altering injuries attributed to Gen3 buckles unlatching during accidents. Chrysler has received scores of complaints from customers complaining that their Gen3 buckles had unlatched, some of them in accidents, some of them just driving down the street, and many of them while strapped around child safety seats.

We have reports through our website, www.unsafebelts.com, from 137 people who have experienced accidental release of a Gen3 seat belt buckles. Many of these reports also involve unlatching from around a child or infant car seat.

There have been two Chrysler crash tests, two U.S. government tests, and a Canadian government test where the Gen3 buckle has unlatched. And Chrysler still continues to sell its cars with the Gen3 buckle.

We know all this because I, as an average citizen -- a young widow with a young child --, could access the legal system, and the legal system could access the truth.

When you make it harder for average people, like me, to discover the truth and punish wrongdoing, you no longer have justice for all.

I have been working since Bart's death to alert consumers of this defective seat belt, including ABC's Primetime who aired this nationally, and to get Chrysler to recall these belts and to stop installing them in their cars.

Without my court case, and the evidence of wrongdoing it provided, I wouldn't be here today to warn people about this defective product. I would be just another victim, powerless to find the truth.

I never expected to find myself in this situation. No one does. But when you do, you discover that certain rights are so precious. For me - and I hope for the people who hear my message today - the ability to take full advantage of the legal system to right a wrong - is one of the most precious.

I don't know all of the details that are in the bill you are hearing today. But what I do know is that I never thought I would be part of any lawsuit. My rights under the law were the only thing I had in my determination to find out the truth about my husband's death. A jury from my own community helped tell the public about this danger in family cars. If this bill had been law when my husband was tragically killed, it would have threatened our ability to pursue this lawsuit, we would have never discovered why he died and most important we would never have been able to alert the public of this danger that threatens millions of Americans.

Sometimes the protection of the law is the only thing we have. Please don't take away our only means to find justice. Please don't silence the voice of average citizens.

NEWS RELEASE: July 5, 2002

Update: DaimlerChrysler appealed this decision. As of 3-13-03, the court had not ruled.

For More Information Contact:
Teresa Kelly, 512/328-4276
For the Edwards Law Firm


CORPUS CHRISTI, TX - A Texas judge has granted nationwide class action status to a lawsuit against DaimlerChrysler Corporation on behalf of owners of an estimated 14 million Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles.

The suit focuses on the vehicles' seat belt buckle, known as the Gen 3, which is prone to unlatching during accidents or from around child or infant car seats in sharp turns or sudden stops. At least three deaths have been blamed on the buckle, and four others are under investigation. The class action seeks replacement of all Gen3 seat belt buckles in Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles, plus reimbursement for any inconvenience this may cause vehicle owners.

In his ruling, the judge said the allegations "describe a consumer crisis with safety implications that should be addressed expediently." Earlier, attorneys for DaimlerChrysler said this class action, if approved, would be the largest automotive national class action ever certified.

When the suit was filed in 2000, three fatalities had been linked to Gen3 seat belt buckle unlatchings. At least four others have since come to light and are under investigation, said Corpus Christi attorney Billy Edwards, who filed the suit along with co-counsel Steven A. Kanner, of Chicago.

"Our goal is to get DaimlerChrysler to act before this defect takes more lives," Edwards said.

In his ruling , County Court Judge Hector De Pena noted that DaimlerChrysler has fought unsuccessfully for two years to stop the case from coming to trial. Further noting that millions of claimants are involved, he said, "It would be grossly inefficient, exorbitantly costly, a waste of judicial resources, and an invitation for conflicting results to require each class member to repetitively litigate the common issues presented in this cause."

Edwards had previously won a $6.7 million lawsuit against DaimlerChrysler on behalf of the family of a Corpus Christi man who was killed when his Gen 3 seat belt released during a rollover accident.

"What we have seen repeatedly in the auto industry is that known problems are ignored until it costs less to change the defect than it does to pay out in lawsuits. It's time to change the equation," Edwards said.

Of particular concern, Edwards said, is the tendency of the Gen 3 buckle to unlatch around infant and child car seats. Since March 7, about one-third of those responding to a web site established to provide information about the Gen3 have been parents complaining that the buckle holding the seat belt around an infant or car seat unlatched during a sudden stop or turn, or for no discernible reason, he said.

About 14 million DaimlerChrysler vehicles made since 1993, including all minivans, are equipped with the Gen 3 buckle. Although DaimlerChrysler began installing a newer, safer buckle known as the Gen 4 in the front seats of minivans starting with the 2000 model year, it continues to install Gen3 belts in the middle and rear seats, where children typically sit.

"Why in the world would DaimlerChrysler put the safer seat belt design in only one part of a vehicle in the first place, much less keep the one with the tendency to come unlatched in the back, where the kids sit?" Edwards asked. DaimlerChrysler is well aware of the Gen 3's unsuitability for child and infant car seats because its dealers and government agencies have received numerous complaints from consumers about this problem going back many years, Edwards said.

A Corpus Christi jury in 2000 concluded that the Gen 3 buckle was "defective as designed" and held it responsible in the death of Bart Moran in 1996. That lawsuit, which involved a new 1997 Dodge Caravan, included testimony from DaimlerChrysler engineers that crash tests made in 1996 involving the Dodge Dakota and Dodge Durango showed the Gen 3 unlatching. As a result, seat belt buckles in those two models were switched to the newer "Gen 4" design beginning with the 1998 model year, but no other models were included in the upgrade, which costs 24 cents a buckle, evidence showed.

A key piece of evidence in the trial was a demonstration of how the Gen 3 fails a standard industry test for unlatching known as the "ball safety test." In this test, a metal ball, meant to simulate an elbow, is pressed against a seat belt buckle. If the buckle unlatches, it has failed the test.

A national television network news program repeated this test in a story that aired March 7. Using an independent testing laboratory, the ABC news program PrimeTime showed the Gen3 buckle failed the test "100 percent of the time." Buckles installed by other U.S. automakers passed the test. The Gen 4 buckle also passes the ball test.

The Gen3 buckle is distinguished by a button that protrudes significantly beyond the button cover, enough so that a loose object or flailing arms during a roll-over crash can unlatch it by striking it. In other buckles, the buttons are more flush with the button cover and must be depressed below the cover to unlatch.

Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep owners may contact a web site, www.unsafebelts.com for information about how to identify a Gen3 safety belt buckle, which models are known to be equipped with the buckles, and links to government and consumer agencies. Owners may also make reports and file complaints about the Gen3 through the web site and toll free number.

NEWS RELEASE: March 8, 2002

CONTACT: Billy Edwards (800) 475-0971

Edwards Law Firm Urges Chrysler Owners To Report Safety Belt
Unlatching Incidents in Wake of ABC Report And
Testing Lab's Finding of Failure "100%" of the Time

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX-March 8, 2002. The following press release is being issued by The Edwards Law Firm, L.L.P.:

Yvonne Moran and her attorney, Billy Edwards, of The Edwards Law Firm, L.L.P., Corpus Christi, today urged Chrysler vehicle owners to report incidents or file complaints with government and consumer agencies in the wake of Thursday's national news disclosure that Chrysler's Gen3 seat belt buckle failed 100% of the time in an independent testing lab's analysis of the buckle's tendency to unlatch during car crashes.

A web site established to capture incident reports about the Gen3 revealed that at least one-third of the reports were from parents complaining that the buckle unlatched around the seat belt securing their child or infant car seat.

ABC's news magazine, PrimeTime, on Thursday aired an investigative report that as many as 14 million Chrysler vehicles-including all minivans produced since 1994-are equipped with Gen3 seat belt buckles that repeatedly fail standard industry tests for safety. The report centered on the death of a Corpus Christi man, Bart Moran, who was killed in a low-speed collision in December 1996 while driving the family's new 1997 Dodge Caravan. In 2000, a jury determined that Moran's seat belt, a Gen3, had unlatched during the crash, was "defective as designed" and was "99% responsible" for his death.

At least three deaths in the United States so far have been attributed to inadvertent unlatching of the Gen3 seat belt.

At a Corpus Christi press conference today, Yvonne Moran, Bart's widow, urged consumers to complain to Chrysler dealers or to contact the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) or the Center for Auto Safety about their concerns. She also urged them to report unlatching incidents to a web site established for that purpose, www.unsafebelts.com.

"The dead don't talk. We, the living, have to raise our voices and make this issue important enough for Chrysler to listen," Moran said.

The web site, www.unsafebelts.com, and a toll-free number, 1-866-848-9036, have been set up so that Chrysler owners can find information quickly and easily about how to identify a Gen3 safety belt, which models are known to be equipped with the buckles, and links to government and consumer agencies. The site, which was established by Billy Edwards, the Corpus Christi lawyer representing Yvonne Moran, also has a quick, easy form for reporting complaints.

A voice recording at DaimlerChrysler's toll-free number today, set up in response to the ABC story, continues to claim that the Gen3 seat belt buckle is safe. The recording says that the Gen3 met all "appropriate" safety requirements for seat belts. Friday morning, the recording accused Bart Moran of not wearing his seat belt. In the face of overwhelming evidence, that part of the message was deleted Friday afternoon.

ARCCA, a Pennsylvania engineering firm hired by ABC, tested fifteen seat belt buckles installed in most American cars using a standard industry test for buckle safety called a "ball test." In this test, a metal ball, meant to simulate an elbow or other object that might strike the buckle during an accident, is pressed against the buckle to determine if it unlatches the belt.

Fourteen of the buckle designs, including those installed in General Motors, Ford, Honda and Toyota vehicles, passed the ball test consistently during 280 repetitions of the test. The Gen3 buckle "failed every single time," according to ARCCA.

Edwards said that he is concerned particularly that Chrysler continues to install Gen3 belts in the middle and rear seats of minivans, where children typically sit.

"We have located numerous complaints filed with Chrysler and the government over the years from parents reporting seat belts in Chrysler-made vehicles unlatching around infant and baby car seats, and our own tests have shown how easily this happens," Edwards said.

In fact, about one-third of the consumer hits to a web site established two days ago to provide information about the Gen3 problem are coming from parents reporting unlatching incidents involving child car seats, Edwards said.

Chrysler has known since 1996 that the Gen3 seat belt buckle had a tendency to unlatch. Chrysler's engineers testified in the Moran case that, after viewing crash tests of the Dodge Durango and Dodge Dakota conducted in 1996 that showed the Gen3 buckles unlatching, they recommended upgrading the buckles in those models to the Gen4.

Clarence Ditlow, director of the Center for Auto Safety in Washington, D.C., called the Gen3 buckle design defect "one of the worst I've ever seen."

The Gen3 buckle is distinguished by a button that protrudes significantly beyond the button cover, enough so that flying objects or flailing arms during a crash can unlatch it by striking it. In other buckles, the buttons are more flush with the button cover and must be depressed below the cover to unlatch.

Consumer and reporting information about the Gen3 buckle can be accessed at www.unsafebelts.com, or by calling toll free 1-866-848-9036.

NEWS RELEASE: March 7, 2002

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
Teresa Kelly
For The Edwards Law Firm
512/328-4276 (o) or 512/217-8051 (m)


CORPUS CHRISTI - The death of a Corpus Christi man is making national news tonight as ABC news is reporting that up to 14 million Chrysler vehicles - including all minivans produced since 1994 - are equipped with a safety belt buckle that is dangerously prone to accidental release during collisions.

Yvonne Moran, who now lives in Sinton, her attorney Billy Edwards, and a man who served as a juror in Moran's lawsuit, John English, were featured on ABC's PrimeTime Thursday news program tonight focusing on the Chrysler safety belt known as the "Gen3."

Yvonne's husband, Bart Moran, died Dec. 18, 1996, 24 hours after his seat belt accidentally unlatched during a low-speed collision on Saratoga Blvd., hurling him through the windshield of his new 1997 Dodge Caravan. According to Yvonne, Bart was obsessive about fastening his safety belt. Evidence presented during a subsequent lawsuit was conclusive enough to convince a jury that Moran was wearing his seat belt, and that -- had it not unlatched-- he would have escaped with minor injuries. The jury ruled in June of 2000 that the Caravan's Gen3 safety belt buckle was defective as designed and "99% responsible" for Moran's death.

What also emerged from the trial was evidence showing Chrysler has known since at least 1998 that its Gen3 seat belt buckle has a tendency to come unlatched during crashes, and that the buckle consistently fails a standard industry test for accidental release.

Yvonne and Edwards said news of other deaths and injuries arising from the Gen3 safety belt compelled them to go public with information obtained during the trial. At least two other deaths attributed to accidental release of a Gen3 belt are being litigated in the U.S., Edwards said.

"We want people to know that if their seat belt unexpectedly releases, that this isn't a rare and random occurrence. This is a problem with the design of the buckle. People need to report that these accidents are happening so that Chrysler will remove and ultimately redesign this buckle," Edwards said.

"We're going public with this because people need to know that buckling up may not be enough if you drive a Chrysler. It certainly wasn't enough for Bart," said Yvonne Moran.

Chrysler owners can find more information about which models are equipped with the Gen3 and what it looks like, as well as report any experience involving the accidental unlatching of a seat belt by logging onto www.unsafebelts.com, or by calling toll-free 1-866-848-9036.

The Gen3 buckle is distinguished by a button that protrudes significantly beyond the button cover, enough so that a loose object during a sharp break or turn, or flailing arms during a roll-over crash can unlatch it by striking it. In other buckles, the buttons are more flush with the button cover and must be depressed below the cover to unlatch.

The Gen3 buckle fails a standard industry test for accidental release known as a "ball test." In this test, a metal ball of a specific diameter, meant to simulate an elbow, is pressed against the button. If the belt unlatches, the buckle has failed the test.

"What we have seen repeatedly in the auto industry is that known problems are ignored until it costs less to change the defect than it does to pay out in lawsuits. It's time to change the equation," Edwards said.

Of particular concern, Edwards said, are consumer complaints that the belt has unlatched around certain child safety seats, simply by the child's weight and movement pressing the edge of the seat against the fixed buckle. Another problem is that one child safety seat can unlatch another child safety seat if two are buckled side-by-side. The movement of one child can easily cause the seat to press against - and unlatch the buckle - of the other, they said.

Depositions in the Moran lawsuit showed Chrysler engineers testified that after viewing crash tests of the 1998 Dodge Durango and Dodge Dakota that appeared to show safety belts releasing accidentally, they recommended upgrading to the newer Gen4 buckle in these models.

The National Safety Council reported in May that 32,061 drivers and passengers were killed in auto accidents in the U.S. in 1999, the latest year in which figures are available. The council estimated that of those fatalities, 9,553 would be alive today had they been properly restrained. But the Moran case raises the question of how many of these people may actually have been belted in, but the buckle accidentally released.

At least 14 million Chrysler vehicles made since 1993, including more than 5 million Chrysler minivans, are thought to be involved. Chrysler began upgrading the buckle in the front seat of its minivans starting with the 2000 model year, but has retained the Gen3 in rear seats, where children are more likely to sit.

For more information about the Gen3, visit www.unsafebelts.com, or call 1-866-848-9036.

NEWS RELEASE: July 28, 2000

From the office of Billy Edwards
The Edwards Law Firm
1-866-848-9036

$5 Million Verdict In Defective Seat Belt Case

(Corpus Christi, TX) - A judge has awarded $6.7 million to the widow and daughter of a Corpus Christi man after a jury found his death was the result of a defective car safety belt.

Bart Moran, 33, died as the result of injuries he received in a car accident on December 17, 1996. The jury agreed with the Moran family that had his safety belt not come unlatched during the accident, he would not have been ejected and fatally injured.

During the trial, attorney Billy Edwards showed evidence that Chrysler had been aware of the tendency of its Gen3 safety belt to come unlatched during car crashes.

"Money will not restore Bart Moran's life. But at least this trial has exposed a continuing auto safety hazard, and in doing so, will help save others' lives. " Edwards said.

Following is a summary of the case, the verdict and the award:

On the morning of December 17, 1996, Bart Moran left his house for a short trip to the grocery store. Mr. Moran drove the family's 1997 Chrysler minivan. On the way to the grocery store, he traveled down Saratoga Boulevard, a major thoroughfare with six lanes. At the same time, Luvh Rakhe, a 17-year old high school student, was driving his Ford Taurus to school. Mr. Rakhe stopped at a stop sign, and waited for a break in the traffic so that he could turn left onto Saratoga. At a time when he thought it was clear, Mr. Rakhe pulled away from the stop sign and into the path of the Moran minivan. Mr. Moran made an evasive maneuver to the left, and the Ford Taurus impacted the passenger side of the minivan. While the impact between the two vehicles was relatively light, the Taurus having accelerated to about 10 mph, the impact caused the Chrysler minivan to slide sideways and then roll three times. Bart Moran was ejected and died from a massive head injury and a broken neck.

At trial, several witnesses described Bart's inflexible habit of always wearing his seatbelt. There was also physical evidence that Mr. Moran was wearing his seatbelt at the time of this wreck. A can of car polish opened and splashed around the interior of the minivan as it rolled. Spots of the polish were found on the seatbelt webbing that was rolled up inside the retractor, a location that the polish could not have reached if the belt were in its unused, stowed position. Additionally, a small piece of glass was found ground into the webbing in such a manner that was inconsistent with the belt having been in the unused, stowed position. Furthermore, the medical records described abrasions on the left and right hip areas that would be consistent with belt use, and a Polaroid photograph taken by the medical examiner recorded an abrasion on the left shoulder at the base of the neck of Mr. Moran, consistent with a mark that would be left by a shoulder belt.

The testimony and evidence at trial also demonstrated that the seatbelt buckle used in the 1997 Chrysler minivan was susceptible to accidental release due to contact by an occupant's elbow or hand. An earlier design change in the seatbelt buckle had lowered the outer protective cover of the buckle and increased the height of the release button, both of which caused the buckle to become more susceptible to accidental release. The evidence and testimony also demonstrated that in another line of vehicles, Chrysler made a subsequent design change in the buckle, increasing the height of the outer cover to minimize the risk of accidental release. That change was not incorporated into the minivan.

Bart Moran's wife, Yvonne, sued on behalf of the estate, herself, and the couple's 8-month old daughter, Autumn. The lawsuit alleged that the seatbelt buckle was defective as designed, and that Bart Moran would have survived with relatively insignificant injuries had the seatbelt that he was wearing not released during the wreck.

After a two-week trial, the jury found that:

1. Bart Moran was wearing his seatbelt immediately prior to the wreck;
2. The seatbelt buckle was defective and unreasonably dangerous, and that it was a producing cause of Bart Moran's death;
3. Luvh Rakhe was negligent in the operation of his vehicle and such negligence was a proximate cause of the occurrence;
4. Bart Moran was not negligent in the operation of his vehicle; and
5. The defective seatbelt buckle was 99% responsible for Bart Moran's death and Luvh Rakhe was 1% responsible.

The jury then awarded the following damages:

Bart Moran's estate: $18,400.000

Yvonne Moran: $4,020,000.00

Autumn Moran: $1,050,000.00

The award was to accrue interest while the case is on appeal.