Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) has said it is conducting a “thorough investigation” into the circumstances of the tragic death of ‘Star Trek’ actor Anton Yelchin following an accident in his Jeep vehicle.
Yelchin, who played Chekov in the revamped Star Trek movie series, died in a freak accident when his recalled 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee rolled and pinned him against a fence at his home in Los Angeles at the weekend.
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Bloomberg reported that FCA recalled more than 1.1m Grand Cherokees and large cars in April because the drivers sometimes exited vehicles without putting them in park. The company said at the time that it was aware of 41 potentially related injuries.
FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne said on a conference call that the recall would involve a software update that would automatically shift it to park when a door is opened.
The company said in April that the recall was linked to 700 incidents because drivers mistakenly believed they had placed the vehicles in park before exiting. The electronic gearshift system is said to move more like a joystick than along a gate path like conventional gear selectors.
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in April that the shifter was “clearly a safety issue” leading to hundreds of crashes and dozens of injuries.
