Woman sues Harley and dealer over ABS icon

By
CMG Staff
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The Wilsons say they were misled by the unlit ABS icon on their tachometer.
The Wilsons say they were misled by the unlit ABS icon on their tachometer.

A California woman is suing Harley-Davidson and a dealer over their Road Glide’s ABS icon.

According to the Sacramento Bee, Judy Wilson is in a Sacramento court suing the Milwaukee manufacturer and one of its dealers in Sacramento, California for millions, after a crash that left her with permanent brain damage and pain.

The accident occurred in 2008 when her estranged husband Jack locked their bike’s brakes up, bearing down on gridlocked traffic at 65 mph. After the wreck, he told emergency responders that his bike’s ABS had failed.

Trouble is, his bike didn’t have ABS – like many other vehicles, it simply had an icon on the tachometer for the feature – it just didn’t light up, as they didn’t have the feature. Now, the Wilsons say they were misled by the salesman who sold them their machine, and then by the tachometer icon, to think they had ABS.

Lawyers for both Harley-Davidson and the dealer contended in turn that Jack Wilson should have known after 15 months and 12,000 miles that they didn’t have ABS, and that there’s nothing unusual about having an ABS icon on a non-ABS bike. They also say they put the icon on all their Road Glide tachometers, to ensure that bikes with ABS have the icon. They also say they’ve never had any other complaint like this.

 

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1 COMMENT

  2. Lovely.  Too bad about the accident.  Interesting that she is no longer with hubby either it seems.  What happened to looking ahead and ensure ample room to stop within your skill level and bike performance.  What happened to common sense…

  3. Sorry…there’s no cure for STUPID!!  It’s people like this that sue the bar that sold them the drinks that caused them to get charged with impared driving!?!?!?!

    Frikkin RETARDS!!

    Later.

    PS…why is my computer showing the responses so small of font that I can’t read them??  maybe I’m a retard too?

  5. So putting a “Turbo” badge on a car or bike at the factory doesn’t mean the vehicle is turbo-charged?  Good luck with that, HD.  The word “misleading” does come to mind.

    • Well, there are lots of cars made this way, too. But, it is an interesting argument. The guy should have known, though. And he didn’t read his manual either, otherwise he would have known that the light comes on for a while when you turn on the ignition, and flashes until you get moving. If he suspected it wasn’t working, he should have brought it to the dealer to get it checked—he would have found out then. And if the salesman claimed the bike had ABS, the dealership he works for should be held accountable, though there’s probably lots more money to be had by suing H-D.

      • One more thing. In the future, because of this, we’re likely to see a big sticker placed on the gas tank claiming: WARNING: THIS MOTORCYCLE IS NOT EQUIPPED WITH AN ANTI-LOCK BRAKING SYSTEM (ABS). PLEASE LEAVE THE BIKE IN THE GARAGE IF YOUR RIDING SKILL ISN’T WELL ENOUGH HONED TO USE IT PROPERLY WITHOUT THIS SAFETY FEATURE. 

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