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Jakarta Post

Father seeks Rp 56b from Honda for son'€™s death

A Rp 56 billion (US$4

Indra Budiari (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Wed, March 25, 2015

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Father seeks Rp 56b from Honda for son'€™s death

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Rp 56 billion (US$4.3 million) lawsuit has been filed against Japan-based automaker PT Honda Prospect Motor (HPM) by a man alleging wrongful death in the passing of his son in an accident where the airbags never deployed.

Maringan Aruan, 59, said the deadly incident took place on Oct. 28, 2012, not long after his 24-year-old son graduated from California State University in the US.

He said his son, Desryanto Aruan, was driving a 2009 Honda City from the Sudirman Central Business District (SCBD) area in South Jakarta around 2 a.m., when he suddenly lost control of the vehicle on Jl. Tendean in South Jakarta and crashed.

'€œThe incident was fatal, the car was severally damaged and my son died that night. However, the airbag did not deploy even though he had fastened his seat belt,'€ Maringan told The Jakarta Post before the first hearing in the case at the South Jakarta District Court.

He said he asked HPM to replace the car and compensate him for his son'€™s education and living costs accrued during his eight-year high school and university study '€” some $552,250 '€” as well as Rp 97 million to cover any costs that emerged during the case and the burial.

Maringan said the company agreed to replace the car, but refused to meet the compensation demand, which prompted him to file the lawsuit with South Jakarta District Court on Feb. 9.

'€œA series of meetings with HPM have been held, but we have yet to reach any settlement and have agreed to proceed to court,'€ he said.

In the lawsuit, Maringan is seeking US$552,250 and Rp 97 million in material compensation, as well as Rp 50 billion in immaterial compensation for his son'€™s death.

Maringan, represented by lawyers from the Nasdem Party'€™s legal advocacy board, mentioned that during a meeting with HPM on Jan. 23, 2013, the company stated the airbag had not deployed because there was '€œa strong indication that the crash did not meet the requirement for it'€.

'€œWe also cannot carry out further examination because a component of the car related to the Supplemental Restraint System cannot be found,'€ the document cited HPM as stating.

During the hearing, presiding judge Nani Indrawati said she gave the disputing parties 40 work days to settle the case through a mediation process and hoped that it could be settled out of court.

'€œWe will also provide an additional 14 workdays if the parties need more time for deliberation. Please use this period as well as possible,'€ Nani said.

Separately, HPM lawyer Hamonangan Harahap welcomed the judges'€™ decision to give them time for mediation and emphasized that his client was open to discussions for a settlement.

'€œWe hope we can settle this in a win-win situation. We'€™ll see where the mediation brings us,'€ he told The Jakarta Post.

Maringan said the defendant had violated Article 4 of the Consumer Protection Law No. 8/1999, which stipulates that every consumer is entitled to comfort and safety when using a product or service.

He added that the lawsuit had not been filed merely for compensation reasons, but to remind the HPM they had to improve their security system to avoid future accidents.

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