The parents of a 22-year-old man who had worked as a golf cart technician in The Villages, are suing General Motors in connection with a 2012 accident that claimed their son’s life.
Stephen M. Stutzman had been driving a 2011 Chevrolet Express 2500 van on Aug. 14, 2012Â on County Road 42 in Marion County when the vehicle did not stop at a four-way intersection. The van accelerated to nearly 100 miles per hour and went airborne, according to court records. The vehicle crashed through a barrier fence, smashed through a light pole in the Interstate 75 right-of-way, traveled over a cement culvert, down an embankment, across I-75’s northbound lanes and finally came to rest upside down.
Stutzman died at the scene of the crash. Florida Highway Patrol investigated the accident and reported that Stutzman had not been under the influence of drugs or alcohol, his vision had not been obscured and there had been no environmental factors contributing to the accident.
His parents, Karl and Jean Stutzman, have filed a wrongful death suit against General Motors.
The lawsuit alleges the company and a local car dealer were negligent in failing to attend to and inform buyers of possible defaults that existed with the van prior to purchase.
In recent months, GM has faced a barrage of lawsuits, many of them tied to faulty ignition switches.
