— Land Rover has been sued by the family of a California woman who was killed when she forgot to put the vehicle into PARK before exiting the Land Rover Discovery.
Driver Sue Rooney purchased a new 2020 Land Rover Discovery in December 2019.
In May 2026, Rooney parked the Land Rover on a flat driveway, started the engine and began getting out of the vehicle after she had shifted out of PARK. Without the transmission in PARK the vehicle ran over her.
The incident killed her, and her husband and family members claim it's the fault of Land Rover. According to the lawsuit, the vehicle should have automatically shifted into PARK after she failed to do it.
Claiming the Land Rover Discovery was a "death trap" equipped with a defective gear shifter, the lawsuit alleges Land Rover could have prevented the entire incident.
"This incident was avoidable because the vehicle contains all of the equipment necessary to prevent unintended rollaways but the vehicle’s manufacturer—Jaguar Land Rover—opted not to enable the features that would have secured the vehicle when it detected Ms. Rooney exited with the engine on and the transmission not in Park." — Land Rover lawsuit
The plaintiffs complain Land Rover has "decided to leave hundreds of thousands of unsafe vehicles on the road" as the automaker allegedly has a "callous disregard for the safety of its vehicle owners."
Not only does the lawsuit include Land Rover, but it claims a dealership and "DOES 1 to 100" are responsible for the driver's death after she forgot to put the transmission into PARK.
Also sued are:
"[M]anufacturers, designers, developers, processors, producers, assemblers, builders, testers, inspectors, installers, equippers, endorsers, exporters, wholesalers, retailers, lessors, renters, sellers, modifiers, servicers, repairers, providers and otherwise distributors of the Subject Vehicle and the defective parts contained therein."
The Land Rover rollaway lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Sacramento: Rooney, et al., v. Jaguar Land Rover North America LLC, et al.