Family sues Hyundai for 2011 crash
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland/Valley Journal Judge Deborah Kim Christopher speaks with opposing counsel in a trial meant to determine whether or not a defective steering knuckle played a role in the deaths of three people in a 2011 Lake County crash.
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
POLSON — Attorneys argued last week in Lake County District Court that a defective steering knuckle manufactured by Hyundai was the cause of a July 2, 2011 wreck that occurred just north of Arlee and left three young people dead.
Hyundai’s defense centered on the theory that a firework might have exploded in the vehicle and caused the collision of a northbound 2005 Tiburon driven by 19-year-old Trevor Olson of Missoula and a southbound 2002 Pontiac Grand Am driven by Stephanie Nicole Parker-Shepard of Arlee.
Trevor Olson, his 14-year-old passenger Tanner Olson and Parker-Shepard were killed.
Parker’s husband Vincent Shepard was severely injured in the crash, as were the couple’s two small children.
Last week attorneys representing the estates of Tanner Olson and Trevor Olson called University of Montana Professor of Metallurgy William Gleason to the stand to explain how the knuckle rusted and malfunctioned. On Friday Gleason read through a long list of other Hyundai vehicles found to have the same problem – some with as few as 12 miles on the speedometer.
Attorneys representing Hyundai centered on the possibility that a firework exploded in the vehicle, and homed in on the flash of light reported by the wreck’s sole witness to have occurred just before the crash.
The trial began April 28 and was expected to last at least through Friday.
