A California jury rejected claims by the families of nine injured children that Wal-Mart and bike importer Dynacraft knowlingly sold bicycles with faulty front-wheel quick-release levers.
Ironically, the Marin County jury issued the verdict the day after a quick-release lever broke on a bicycle they were inspecting in the jury room. The Chinese-made Next brand bicycle, the style at issue in the court case, had come right out the box and had never been ridden, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The lawsuits were filed on behalf of nine boys who were injured — three with brain injuries — between 2000 and 2003 after the front wheels attached by a quick-release lever came off the bikes while they were riding. They claimed Wal-Mart and importer Dynacraft BSC distributed the bicycles in spite of knowing the quick-releases were faulty. The families created the “Stop Hurting Our Kids” website that details their complaints.
During the eight-week trial, lawyers for Wal-Mart and Dynacraft blamed the front wheel failures on “improper assembly, parental neglect, failure to adjust the quick-release device, or children's neglect or abuse of the bikes,” the newspaper reported.
The Chronicle also reported that one of the plaintiffs reached an out-of-court settlement with the companies on Wednesday. Also, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating front-wheel failures on bikes imported by Dynacraft.
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