Consumer lost her husband after the parking brake system disengaged and ran over him on his 2002 Ford F350. The consumer was attempting to tow another vehicle. The consumer had planned to drive up a street ramp to the street. The consumer was unable to make the turn on the ramp with the other vehicle attached. In order to complete the tow, the consumer engaged the parking brake with his tow truck in neutral, engaged the power take off and lowered the vehicle being towed to the ground. A few seconds after the towed vehicle had been removed, the consumers vehicle began to roll. The consumer was found under his tow truck. The cause of death was declared as mechanical asphyxiation. Experts conducted extensive inspections and concluded the parking brake was defective. The lock pinion in the parking brake controller was capable of skipping out of place at its point of engagement with the lock sector stop, which created slack in the rear brake cables. The parking brake was missing several features would have prevented the consumers death, including a self adjusting drum in hat assembly, a more robust bump stop, more robust pinion teeth, a collar to secure the engagement of the pinion and the sector and an encapsulated take up spring.

- Philadelphia, PA, USA