{"id":2936,"date":"2025-10-14T22:13:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T22:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/?p=2936"},"modified":"2025-10-15T16:47:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T16:47:55","slug":"dog-allegedly-triggers-tailgate-sending-woman-to-hospital-and-volvo-to-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/14\/dog-allegedly-triggers-tailgate-sending-woman-to-hospital-and-volvo-to-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Dog Allegedly Triggers Tailgate Sending Woman To Hospital And Volvo To Court"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image lazyload\" alt=\"\" style=\"margin-bottom: 15px\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/331987_New_Volvo_XC90_lifestyle-copb-bv-rf-1024x576-1.jpg\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:100%\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A lawsuit accuses Volvo of a tailgate malfunction that caused serious injuries.<\/li>\n<li>The plaintiff says a passing dog triggered the hands-free tailgate sensor.<\/li>\n<li>She also blames the vehicle&rsquo;s driver, a Volvo employee and brand ambassador.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Volvo has long built its reputation on safety, yet a recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carscoops.com\/tag\/lawsuit\/\">lawsuit<\/a> suggests that even the most careful automaker can be caught off guard. <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-placement\">\n<div id=\"82503191-e1d1-435a-874f-9c78a2a54a2f\" class=\"_ap_apex_ad\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"0f7e3106-c4d6-4db4-8135-c508879a76f8\" class=\"_ap_apex_ad\"><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\tvar adpushup = window.adpushup  = window.adpushup || {que:[]};<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tadpushup.que.push(function() {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tif (adpushup.config.platform !== &#8220;DESKTOP&#8221;){<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tadpushup.triggerAd(&#8220;0f7e3106-c4d6-4db4-8135-c508879a76f8&#8221;);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t} else {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tadpushup.triggerAd(&#8220;82503191-e1d1-435a-874f-9c78a2a54a2f&#8221;);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t}<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t});<\/p><\/div>\n<p>A New Jersey woman is suing the Swedish brand for negligence, claiming a tailgate sensor malfunction left her with serious head injuries, apparently triggered by nothing more than a passing dog.<\/p>\n<p>The incident took place during a hiking trip in October 2023, though the lawsuit wasn&rsquo;t filed until October 2025 in New Jersey Superior Court for Ocean County. According to the complaint, Megan Kohr was standing behind an unspecified <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carscoops.com\/tag\/volvo\">Volvo<\/a> model when a dog ran beneath the vehicle.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pet Confuses Sensor<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"taboola-mid-article\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"taboola-mid-article-thumbnails-organic\"><\/div>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carscoops.com\/tag\/animals\">dog<\/a> allegedly set off the motion sensor located under the bumper, causing the power tailgate to strike Kohr in the head. The filing states that the incident resulted in &ldquo;severe, serious, and permanent injuries.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong>More: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carscoops.com\/2025\/09\/volvo-the-seatbelt-pioneer-is-recalling-2026-models-over-seatbelt-issue\/\">Volvo, The Seatbelt Pioneer, Is Recalling 2026 Models Over Seatbelt Issue<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Kohr&rsquo;s legal team argues that Volvo&rsquo;s hands-free system lacked adequate safeguards to prevent accidental activation and failed to include a proper <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carscoops.com\/tag\/safety\">safety<\/a> reversal function upon impact, a feature widely expected in today&rsquo;s power-operated systems.<\/p>\n<p>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carscoops.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/332001_New_Volvo_XC90_lifestyle-copy.jpg\" data-type=\"inarticle-image-block\"> <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<p>                    <img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"lazy \" src=\"\" alt=\" Dog Allegedly Triggers Tailgate Sending Woman To Hospital And Volvo To Court\" width=\"2500\" height=\"1406\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.carscoops.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/332001_New_Volvo_XC90_lifestyle-copy-1024x576.jpg\" data-type=\"inarticle-image\" \/><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>        <\/a>  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Partner and Driver Sued Too<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-placement\">\n<div id=\"9b1169d9-7a89-4971-a77f-1397f7588751\" class=\"_ap_apex_ad\"> <\/div>\n<div id=\"bb7964e9-07de-4b06-a83e-ead35079d53c\" class=\"_ap_apex_ad\"> <\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\tvar adpushup = window.adpushup  = window.adpushup || {que:[]};<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tadpushup.que.push(function() {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tif (adpushup.config.platform !== &#8220;DESKTOP&#8221;){<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tadpushup.triggerAd(&#8220;bb7964e9-07de-4b06-a83e-ead35079d53c&#8221;);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t} else {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tadpushup.triggerAd(&#8220;9b1169d9-7a89-4971-a77f-1397f7588751&#8221;);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t}<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t});<\/p><\/div>\n<p>According to the complaint, Kohr &ldquo;was caused to suffer great pain and anguish&rdquo; leaving her &ldquo;disabled and prevented from attending to her necessary affairs and business.&rdquo; She is now seeking damages for medical expenses, lost income, and long-term suffering.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to Volvo Car USA, Kohr has named her hiking partner and the owner of the dog, Jennifer Henry, as a co-defendant, along with the vehicle&rsquo;s driver. Apparently, is also a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carscoops.com\/tag\/volvo\/\">Volvo<\/a> employee and brand ambassador. The company, for now, has chosen to stay quiet.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A Useful Feature Turned Liability <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hands-free tailgates were introduced as a practical feature, allowing owners to open or close the rear hatch by simply moving a foot beneath the bumper &ndash; ideal when carrying groceries or luggage. The system is available across several Volvo models including the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carscoops.com\/tag\/volvo-xc60\/\">XC60<\/a>, XC90, EX90, and V90 Cross Country which are currently offered in the US market.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-placement\">\n<div id=\"e46c436a-adeb-4b5e-a2c7-56bc36561c10\" class=\"_ap_apex_ad\"> <\/div>\n<div id=\"b25ecba7-3bbb-4ea7-a3a8-dbea91695c07\" class=\"_ap_apex_ad\"> <\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\tvar adpushup = window.adpushup  = window.adpushup || {que:[]};<br \/>\n         \t\tadpushup.que.push(function() {<br \/>\n             \t\tif (adpushup.config.platform !== &#8220;DESKTOP&#8221;){<br \/>\n    \t\t\t\t\tadpushup.triggerAd(&#8220;b25ecba7-3bbb-4ea7-a3a8-dbea91695c07&#8221;);<br \/>\n             \t\t} else {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tadpushup.triggerAd(&#8220;e46c436a-adeb-4b5e-a2c7-56bc36561c10&#8221;);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t}<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t});<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>More: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carscoops.com\/2025\/10\/gm-sued-over-alleged-brake-failures-in-2025-models\/\">Drivers Sue GM Over Serious Safety Flaw In New SUVs And Trucks<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, Volvo <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carscoops.com\/2025\/10\/the-volvo-ex90s-latest-problem-might-literally-drop-on-you\/\">has recently issued a recall for the EX90<\/a> due to faulty tailgate parts from a supplier that could cause sudden failure. The recall affects 1,119 units of the electric SUV built between April 2024 and February 2025, which means it is unrelated to Kohr&rsquo;s case.<\/p>\n<p>In the end, it&rsquo;ll be up to the court to decide whether a faulty sensor, human error, or sheer bad luck is to blame for an accident that turned a supposedly helpful feature into yet another safety statistic.<\/p>\n<p>        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carscoops.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/331996_New_Volvo_XC90_lifestyle-copy.jpg\" data-type=\"inarticle-image-block\"> <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<p>                    <img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"lazy \" src=\"\" alt=\" Dog Allegedly Triggers Tailgate Sending Woman To Hospital And Volvo To Court\" width=\"2500\" height=\"1406\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.carscoops.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/331996_New_Volvo_XC90_lifestyle-copy-1024x576.jpg\" data-type=\"inarticle-image\" \/><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>        <\/a>  <\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sources: Law, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autoblog.com\/news\/a-dog-triggered-a-volvos-tailgate-sensor-then-it-allegedly-hit-the-owner\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Autoblog<\/a><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A lawsuit accuses Volvo of a tailgate malfunction that caused serious injuries. The plaintiff says a passing dog triggered the &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/14\/dog-allegedly-triggers-tailgate-sending-woman-to-hospital-and-volvo-to-court\/\" class=\"more-link\"><span class=\"more-button\">Continue Reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Dog Allegedly Triggers Tailgate Sending Woman To Hospital And Volvo To Court<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2938,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2936"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2936"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2939,"href":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2936\/revisions\/2939"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seabrave.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}