Peloton Bike “Instantly” Killed Rider After Falling On Him

Peloton faces legal action after a man was killed in an accident involving one of its cycles.

Johanna Furtado filed a lawsuit against the workout equipment manufacturer, which has denied any wrongdoing, more than a year after her son Ryan Furtado, 32, was killed while using a Peloton spin bike for an exercise in January 2022. Johanna alleged in court records filed in March 2023 that her son, who had purchased the bike six months prior, was killed while performing a virtually-instructed “Core” workout given by the equipment.

“The workout requires riders to disembark the bike and conduct exercises on the floor,” according to the documents. “Ryan got off the bike and started doing floor exercises.” Ryan utilized the bike to help him get up after finishing those workouts. The bike turned around and hit him in the neck and face, severing his carotid artery and killing him instantaneously.”

The New York Police Department discovered Ryan with the “bike still resting on his neck and face,” according to the lawsuit.

Peloton faces legal action after a man was killed in an accident involving one of its cycles.

Johanna also claims in her filing that Peloton sold her son the bike “in a defective and unreasonably dangerous condition” and “knew or should have known of the risk of personal injury associated with continuously stretching on the bike during workouts, causing the Subject Bike to destabilise and fall, injuring the user.”

She seeks compensatory damages, medical expenses, and other economic damages and a jury trial.

Peloton Interactive, Inc. claims in a response filed in June and obtained by the Daily Beast that Ryan’s “alleged injuries or damages, if any, were caused or contributed to by [his] own negligence, intentional act and/or fault” and not by the company, which is not legally responsible.

In a statement to E! News on September 8, a Peloton spokeswoman said, “We offer our deepest sympathy and condolences to the Furtado family for this unfortunate accident.” The health and safety of our Member community is a primary priority for us as a Member-first company.”

According to the Furtado family’s lawyers, Mike Morgan and Gennady Voldz, Peloton “has a duty to communicate clearly and honestly with customers about the dangers inherent in their products.”

Peloton faces legal action after a man was killed in an accident involving one of its cycles.

“The sympathy and condolences Peloton has offered to our client in public statements ring hollow while their lawyers deny any responsibility and blame Mr. Furtado for his own tragic and avoidable death,” they said. “We will do everything in our power to hold Peloton accountable for their actions and inactions that allegedly led to the death of a kind and funny 32-year-old man who should still be with us today.”

Johanna’s lawsuit, initially reported by the Daily Beast on September 6, features the first-known death involving a Peloton cycle, which became popular after the COVID-19 epidemic began in 2020 as people increasingly worked out at home.

However, the company’s treadmills have been involved in disastrous situations in the past. A 6-year-old child died after being pushed into a Peloton treadmill in 2021, while a 3-year-old had a “significant brain injury” following an accident that left him “trapped under a Peloton Tread+,” according to an incident report filed with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

The product was later recalled, and the CPSC announced in January that Peloton had agreed to pay a $19 million civil penalty that “resolves CPSC’s charges that Peloton knowingly failed to immediately report to CPSC, as required by law, that its Tread+ treadmill contained a defect that could create a substantial product hazard and created an unreasonable risk of serious injury to consumers.”

“By the time Peloton filed a report with the Commission, there were more than 150 reports of people, pets, and/or objects being pulled under the rear of the Tread+ treadmill,” according to the CPSC, “including the death of a child and 13 injuries, including broken bones, lacerations, abrasions, and friction burns.”

Peloton later told NBC News and other publications that it was happy with the settlement and that “it continues to pursue the CPSC’s approval of a Tread+ rear guard that would further augment its safety features.” The firm also stated that it “remains deeply committed to our members’ safety and well-being, as well as the continuous improvement of our products.”

SOURCE – (E)