Family Files Lawsuit Against Ford After Couple Dies Of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

The family of a Highland Park, Illinois couple who died of carbon monoxide poisoning has filed a lawsuit against Ford, claiming that the automaker was aware of the potential dangers of cars equipped with keyless entry systems that are accidentally left running, but did nothing to solve the problem.

Attorney Ted McNabola is representing the family of Rina and Pasquale Fontanini, an elderly Highland Park couple who died of carbon monoxide poisoning last June after their 2013 Lincoln MKS was inadvertently left running in their garage. Like many newer cars, the Fontanini’s Lincoln was equipped with a keyless ignition system.

The lawsuit alleges that Rina Fontanini pushed the start/stop ignition button when the couple had returned home from a family gathering, but she failed to notice the car hadn’t actually turned off.

“Clearly, the Fontanini’s did not know the car was running,” said McNabola. “At some point during the night, they became aware of it and Mr. Fontanini went down, opened the garage door, turned off the car and then went back into the home to try to save his wife. But unfortunately he was overcome with carbon monoxide and died trying to help his wife.”

The couple’s bodies were discovered the next day by their son, a lieutenant in the Highland Park Fire Department. The wrongful death lawsuit alleges that Ford and the auto industry at large have been aware of this dangerous design flaw for years. The lawsuit also states that Ford has installed a fix on some of its cars but not on all of its models, with the fix being an automatic shut off for cars left running unattended for more than 15 minutes.

“The Fontanini family is devastated by this loss,” said McNabola. “They filed this lawsuit to motivate Ford and the auto industry in general to make a safer product and make sure this tragedy never happens to another family.”

Although this is the first such lawsuit against Ford, at least ten other automakers have already been sued for the keyless entry safety problem, which experts say has led to at least 15 deaths across the United States.

Ford provided FOX 32 with the following statement about the allegations:

“Ford takes the safety of our customers very seriously; the keyless ignition system has proven to be a safe and reliable innovative feature that has been well-received by customers. Ford vehicles equipped with keyless ignition…alert drivers when the driver’s door is opened and the vehicle’s engine is running.”