A Sacramento family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Jaguar Land Rover after their mother, Sue Rooney, was killed by her own SUV in her daughter’s driveway. Rooney, a 70-year-old grandmother of six and mother of three, died on May 15, just days after celebrating her birthday. “We called her Oma,” her daughter Erin Farrell said. “Oma was everybody’s favorite person in our family. We all adored her and loved her. She was the glue in our family. She’s what kept our family strong.” “She was happiest when we were all at her house, eating her food. You know, she was happiest watching her grandkids,” her daughter Kathleen Rooney said. Rooney’s daughters said the incident occurred after she spent the afternoon babysitting.”She got inside her car and started her car and then she exited her car to tell my husband something, and the car started moving in reverse,” Kathleen Rooney said. “The car door hit her. She fell on the ground, and then the car rolled over her. On my flat driveway.”The family believes her death was preventable and has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Jaguar Land Rover, the manufacturer of the 2020 Land Rover Discovery involved in the 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,” the lawsuit reads. The lawsuit alleges that Jaguar Land Rover is aware of similar rollaway incidents but has not made any changes.”The goal ultimately is to hold Jaguar Land Rover accountable for selling a vehicle that they know is defective and not doing anything about it,” said attorney Dylan Ruga, who is representing the family. Ruga explained that the vehicle has a non-intuitive dial selector that can lead drivers to mistakenly believe the car is in park when it is not. “And then it lacks what is referred to as a driver exit strategy, which is technology to secure the vehicle when it detects a driver exiting with the transmission not in park,” Ruga said. The lawsuit acknowledges that Rooney’s car was not in park when she exited the vehicle. KCRA 3 reached out to Jaguar Land Rover for comment. A spokesperson for the company responded with a statement: “JLR is committed to the safety of our customers and is saddened to hear of this incident. As this matter is now related to pending litigation, we will not comment further.” “There needs to be change. Like this car cannot continue to be on the road and continue to potentially take lives,” Farrell said. Rooney’s daughters said they want accountability to ensure no other family has to endure the same tragedy. “Family was her number one priority. Like she would do anything for her family. And we all depended on her so much, and we don’t know how to live without her,” Erin said. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

A Sacramento family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Jaguar Land Rover after their mother, Sue Rooney, was killed by her own SUV in her daughter’s driveway.

Rooney, a 70-year-old grandmother of six and mother of three, died on May 15, just days after celebrating her birthday.

“We called her Oma,” her daughter Erin Farrell said. “Oma was everybody’s favorite person in our family. We all adored her and loved her. She was the glue in our family. She’s what kept our family strong.”

“She was happiest when we were all at her house, eating her food. You know, she was happiest watching her grandkids,” her daughter Kathleen Rooney said.

Rooney’s daughters said the incident occurred after she spent the afternoon babysitting.

“She got inside her car and started her car and then she exited her car to tell my husband something, and the car started moving in reverse,” Kathleen Rooney said. “The car door hit her. She fell on the ground, and then the car rolled over her. On my flat driveway.”

The family believes her death was preventable and has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Jaguar Land Rover, the manufacturer of the 2020 Land Rover Discovery involved in the 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,” the lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit alleges that Jaguar Land Rover is aware of similar rollaway incidents but has not made any changes.

“The goal ultimately is to hold Jaguar Land Rover accountable for selling a vehicle that they know is defective and not doing anything about it,” said attorney Dylan Ruga, who is representing the family.

Ruga explained that the vehicle has a non-intuitive dial selector that can lead drivers to mistakenly believe the car is in park when it is not.

“And then it lacks what is referred to as a driver exit strategy, which is technology to secure the vehicle when it detects a driver exiting with the transmission not in park,” Ruga said.

The lawsuit acknowledges that Rooney’s car was not in park when she exited the vehicle.

KCRA 3 reached out to Jaguar Land Rover for comment. A spokesperson for the company responded with a statement: “JLR is committed to the safety of our customers and is saddened to hear of this incident. As this matter is now related to pending litigation, we will not comment further.”

“There needs to be change. Like this car cannot continue to be on the road and continue to potentially take lives,” Farrell said.

Rooney’s daughters said they want accountability to ensure no other family has to endure the same tragedy.

“Family was her number one priority. Like she would do anything for her family. And we all depended on her so much, and we don’t know how to live without her,” Erin said.

See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel