Kia Defeats Suit Over Three-Fatality Sudden Acceleration Crash

Kia Motors America Inc. shed a lawsuit by the families of three people killed in a sudden acceleration accident, as a federal court said the plaintiffs failed to offer evidence that a specific defect in the car caused it to accelerate.

Because the plaintiffs lack evidence of causation, Kia and related companies are entitled to summary judgment, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee said.

Mary Jean Parks, then 83, was traveling with her sister in a 2008 Kia Optima in December 2015. She reached more than 90 miles per hour. Eyewitnesses said she was trying to ...