EDWARDSVILLE – A negligence lawsuit was filed against a wheelchair manufacturer, alleging the wheelchair is designed in such a way to cause it to tip forward.
Plaintiff William K. Dowdy filed the lawsuit in the Madison County Circuit Court against United Seating and Mobility, LLC, doing business as Numotion and Pride Mobility Products Corporation, citing negligence and product liability.
According to the lawsuit, Dowdy has limited mobility. In July 2020, he purchased a self-propelled wheelchair from Pride Mobility Products. In October 2022, he notified Numotion that the wheelchair needed maintenance and the company dispatched employees to Dowdy's home to pick up his wheelchair. Before leaving, they supplied him with a temporary self-propelled wheelchair, which was also manufactured by Pride Mobility Products, to use while his wheelchair was being serviced.
The lawsuit alleges the wheelchair that Dowdy was provided with was defective and had major flaws in its design that would cause it to tip forward during reasonable use. According to the lawsuit, on Oct. 17, the plaintiff was riding the wheelchair down the wheelchair ramp attached to his home when the chair tipped forward. He claims he was thrown out of the chair and down the ramp.
Dowdy alleges Numotion was negligent in providing him with a defective and dangerous wheelchair, failing to recognize the defects in the wheelchair's design, and failing to provide him instruction or warning of the wheelchairs propensity to tip forward. Dowdy also alleges Pride was negligent in their design of a wheelchair with a propensity to tip forward during reasonable use.
The plaintiff is seeking damages in excess of $50,000 plus court costs and any other relief the court deems proper. He is represented in this case by attorney Edward J. Szewczyk in East Alton in East Alton.
Madison County Circuit Court case number 2023LA000991