A BMW X5 Owner Won a Lawsuit Against BMW for a Soft-Close Door Accident

TapTechNews July 8th news, a BMW X5 owner sued BMW in court in New York, USA, after the vehicle's soft-close door (soft-closedoor) amputated his thumb and won the lawsuit. The jury awarded the owner, Godwin Boateng, a compensation of 1.9 million US dollars.

The freelance software engineer sued, claiming that the soft-close door of his 2013 BMW X5 malfunctioned during the closing process, resulting in the amputation of the tip of his thumb. The incident occurred in July 2016, when Boateng placed his right hand on the door pillar of the cab. At that time, the door was opened about 30 centimeters, but the soft-close door unexpectedly closed and amputated his thumb. Due to the severity of the injury, the doctor could not reattach Boateng's thumb.

Afterwards, Boateng sued BMW in court and claimed 3 million US dollars. He stated that as a software engineer, he would lose 250,000 US dollars of income annually due to the thumb disability.

However, BMW insisted after testing that there was no fault in the vehicle's soft-close door system, and emphasized that the owner's manual has clearly warned of the relevant risks, and everyone should know that do not put fingers or any part of the body between the door and the door frame when closing the door.

Nonetheless, the jury finally ruled that BMW was fully responsible for Boateng's injury and made a compensation judgment of 1.9 million US dollars (TapTechNews note: currently about 13.859 million Chinese yuan). It is notable that the jury did not determine that there was a defect in BMW's soft-close door system. It is not clear whether BMW will appeal this judgment.

Boateng believes that compared to windows equipped with anti-pinch sensors, BMW's soft-close door has potential safety hazards. At the same time, he also pointed out that BMW had recognized the potential safety problem of this system as early as 2002.

In the litigation file, there is also a detailed description of Boateng's injured thumb, stating that the soft-close door ruthlessly amputated the muscles, nerves, blood vessels, tendons and bone structure of Boateng's right thumb.

After the judgment, BMW still insists that there is no defect in its vehicle's soft-close door.