Mother Sues Peloton After Her Son Is Instantly Killed By The Stationary Bike

A New York mother has filed a personal injury wrongful death lawsuit against the fitness company Peloton after her son was “instantly” killed while using the stationary bike. According to the lawsuit, the stationary bike fell on her son, severing his carotid artery, and killing him instantly. The plaintiff contends that the bike was “not reasonably fit, suitable, or safe for its intended or represented purpose.” Peloton has filed a rebuttal and is seeking to dismiss the claims.

According to the lawsuit, the incident occurred in January when the decedent was completing a “core” workout that involved the bike. As part of the workout, the decedent was instructed to “disembark the bike to conduct exercises on the floor.” Upon finishing the floor portion of the workout, the decedent used the bike to pull himself off of the floor. According to the lawsuit, the bike spun around and struck him in the neck and face. The bike severed his carotid artery in his neck and killed him instantly. When police found the deceased, the bike was still resting on his neck and face.

Peloton seeks to dismiss the lawsuit 

Peloton has offered up a tried and true strategy to dismiss the lawsuit that’s been filed against it. It is blaming the victim. According to Peloton, any alleged injuries or damages were caused or contributed to by the decedent’s own negligence, intentional act, and/or fault. They are seeking to dismiss the mother’s lawsuit on the basis that the decedent caused his own death when he attempted to stabilize himself using the bike.

Peloton goes further than just providing stationary bikes to the public. It also provides training videos on the use of the bike. The plaintiffs contend that when the trainer instructed users to use the bike for stretching, it “rendered the Subject Bike unreasonably dangerous under foreseeable circumstances through users applying pressure on the bike in a pulling and pushing fashion causing the bike to destabilize and fall.” According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs say that Peloton should have warned users about “the foreseeable misuse that people would also use the Subject Bike to pull themselves up from the floor during a workout increasing an unknown risk of injury to the user.” The lawsuit claims that Peloton failed to adequately test the bike or inspect the bike’s warnings to ensure that it wouldn’t be misused by its users.

In other words, the plaintiffs claim that because the training videos instructed users to place pressure on the bike during stretching, an average user would assume that the bike was stable enough to use to pull one’s self off the floor.

Talk to a Florida Product Liability Lawyer Today 

The Florida personal injury lawyers at Halpern, Santos, & Pinkert represent the interests of Florida residents who have been injured by dangerous or defective products. Call our office today to schedule a free consultation, and we can begin discussing your claims right away.

Source:

foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/mom-sues-peloton-claiming-workout-bike-killed-her-son-instantly