GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Seven people were killed, and nine others injured when a 15-passenger van rolled over at the I-85 I-985 interchange last year.
Now, families of the victims have filed a series of civil lawsuits against Chrysler’s parent company, driver Monica Manire and the addiction recovery program We Are Living. A local Pep Boys shop and a tire shop are also named. Lawyers claim the 2002 van was “dangerous and tragically unstable. "
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Steve Parish’s daughter Ashleigh was one of the passengers killed. He and his wife spoke to Channel 2′s Tony Thomas.
“I’m lost like all these other parents. I’m lost,” Parish said.
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Sean Kane is a researcher who’s tracked the passenger van issue for years.
“They have a long life and they’ve had a lot of problems,” Kane said. “This is a 15-passenger van, yet it took the federal government’s intervention to say don’t use them with more than 10 people because they are inherently dangerous.”
The vans were never ordered off the road.
“My heart is not going to settle until I know what happened. I just can’t blow it off and say it’s just an accident. I need to know what caused the accident,” Parish said.
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Thomas could not reach those being sued for reactions to the lawsuit. Stellantis, the owner of Chrysler did not respond to emails. No lawyers for the defendants are listed so far.
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