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DaimlerChrysler Corporation Applauds Massachusetts Verdict

4 June 1999

DaimlerChrysler Corporation Applauds Massachusetts Verdict

            Jury Says Company Not Responsible for Racing Accident

    AUBURN HILLS, Mich., June 3 -- DaimlerChrysler Corporation
scored a legal victory today when a Worcester County,
Massachusetts jury decided that the company was not responsible for a 1991
amateur auto racing accident that paralyzed the driver, Robert Roth.  "What
happened to Mr. Roth was tragic," said Ken Gluckman, DaimlerChrysler
Corporation's Assistant General Counsel.  "But the accident says more about
the dangers of auto racing than it does about our company's product."
    On April 21, 1991, Mr. Roth was racing his 1986 Spec Racer (manufactured
by Renault/Jeep Sport, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of American Motors
Corporation) at the New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, N.H.,
when he lost control on a rain soaked track while attempting to pass another
driver at 80 miles per hour.  Mr. Roth's car slammed rearward into a wall at
60 miles per hour.
    As a result of the violent accident, Mr. Roth was rendered a quadraplegic.
He filed suit against the former Chrysler Corporation in March of 1994
alleging that his Spec Racer was defective and caused his paralysis because it
did not offer adequate crash protection.
    Gluckman pointed out that Mr. Roth acknowledged this danger by signing a
waiver prior to the race that stated, in part, "that the activities of the
event are very dangerous and involve the risk of serious injury and/or death."
    Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Unser, who testified on behalf of
the corporation at trial, called the Spec Racer "a totally safe car."  Unser,
who has been racing cars for 51 years, told jurors that the racer was "state
of the art."  This vehicle design has been driven over 6.3 million miles in
competition without a single fatality.
    Today there are 50,000 members of the Sports Car Club of America ("SCCA").
The SCCA has sponsored approximately 5,000 races in the past 15 years.  Mr.
Roth took part in 40 races between 1988 and the 1991 accident date.
    Peter Durney of Boston-based Cornell & Gollub, and Louann Van Der Wiele,
Senior Staff Counsel for DaimlerChrysler Corporation represented the company
in the 17-day trial.