The owner, a software engineer, lost his thumb after his BMW X5 soft-close doors failed to function thereby severing the digit
German car maker BMW has been ordered by the court to pay off US$1.9 million (Rs 15.86 crores) to their customer who lost his thumb due to a door malfunction. The incident occurred in July 2016 when software engineer Godwin Boateng was resting his hand on the edge of the driver side door of his BMW X5.
BMW Soft-Close Door Snips Off Owner’s Thumb
These doors are supposed to be soft close doors. However, unlike many soft close windows that use sensors to prevent them from closing on detecting any obstruction, the doors of BMWs continue to close despite obstruction.
As reported, Godwin Boateng, a software engineer, was resting his right hand on the edge of the BMW X5. The door continued to shut quickly despite this obstruction, leaving the owner no time to remove his hand. The final latching occurred so fast that the tip of his right thumb was completely severed. Despite rushing to the hospital, the part could not be reattached.
An 8 year long legal battle has finally paid off. The jury found the automaker liable for damages even as no actual defect was identified in the door. BMW has been ordered by the court to pay a hefty sum of US$1.9 million (A$2.82 million/ Rs 158,641,083) in damages to the owner.
Boateng claimed that the severed thumb would affect his work as a software engineer and could cause him losses to the tune of $250,000 / Rs 2.08 crores per year by way of income. The German automaker argued that the owner’s manual strictly warns against putting any body part between door and frame but yet the jury ruled in favour of Boateng. It is not yet ascertained if BMW will take this battle further to appeal against the court verdict.
BMW Soft-Closing Doors
The soft closing door on Boateng’s BMW X6 not only snapped off the flesh, but also the blood vessels, tendons, muscles and bone structure of his right thumb. This rendered Boateng unable to use the computer as he struggles to type on a keyboard, a vital tool in his profession.
Phil Dilanni, the BMW lawyer, claimed that the company stands by their products and refutes any such claim that the vehicle was to blame for Boateng’s injury. He added that the company will fight against the appeal if necessary.
Boateng’s lawyers claimed that this is not the first such incident with BMW cars. In fact the problem with soft closing doors has been found worldwide wherein at least 44 persons have been injured due to this issue. In a similar incident, Mercedes-Benz had also faced a lawsuit in 2022, when a user lost a portion of their thumb after it was severed in the soft-close door of a GLE SUV.