A coroner has urged Jaguar Land Rover to reconsider the design of their £70,000 electric SUVs, the I-PACE, after the devastating death of a seven-year-old boy last year. Alfie Tollett was crushed between two vehicles while he was putting on his rugby boots in February last year.
The tragic incident occurred at Plymstock Albion Oaks RFC in Plymouth, where Alfie was attending one of his brother's rugby matches. He became trapped between his family's parked car and a van after a driver of a Jaguar I-PACE accidentally pressed the incorrect button while trying to reverse when the SUV's driver "relied on feel" to find the reverse function but instead mistakenly accelerated forward for about 10 seconds.
Alfie's father quickly tried to move the family car forward to release his son, but despite his efforts, the boy sadly died shortly after. A post-mortem examination revealed that blunt force traumatic chest injuries were the cause of Alfie's premature death.
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The Jaguar I-Pace is notably different from conventional vehicles as it lacks a traditional gear stick, opting instead for an automatic system with buttons for drive, neutral, and reverse, as reported by the Mirror.
In the heartbreaking event on 19 February, the 55-year-old driver "used his left hand to select the reverse button" intending to realign the vehicle, which was owned by his spouse. Tragically, he failed to verify the selected button by sight and depended instead on tactile feedback before ignoring an auditory caution signal.
Plymouth Coroner Deborah Archer, at the inquest into young Alfie's untimely death, issued a Prevention of Future Deaths report, recognising the sequence of mistakes made by the driver but also pointing out a potential flaw in the design of the cars electronic gear system.
Directing her concerns to Jaguar, she noted: "In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe you have the power to take such action."
Police officers who investigated the tragic event concluded that the man did not make certain he had selected reverse before depressing the accelerator. He remarkably failed to use the vehicle's brakes at all as his car edged forward for around 10 seconds and met with an accident against the van parked in front.
The coroner added: "However, these errors occurred as a result of there being no intermediary step within the Jaguar I-PACE being necessary to put the car into drive/reverse other than pressing a button.
"In the police officer's opinion if there had also been a lever or something similar present in the vehicle that needed to be engaged before a button was pressed this may have alerted [REDACTED] to the fact that he had pushed the incorrect button on the three button console."
Stephen & Gemma Tollett, parents of Alfie said: "There is so much we could say about Alfie, but we just want everyone to know he was our amazing, cheeky, precious little boy who we all miss and love so very much. Alfie’s memory will always be kept going through his two brothers and sister. Keep chasing the Pokémon’s, riding the unicorns, and scoring the goals up there our special Alfie Moo. We'd like to thank everyone who has sent kind messages of support for our family since that terrible day. Alfie will be forever in our hearts.
“We thank the Coroner for her findings and the confirmation that she will write to Jaguar Land Rover about whether additional steps can be taken to make this electric car safer.
“We would welcome anything that prevents any other family from having to go through what we have as a family and that includes all manufacturers of electric vehicles to review their control designs in light of this case. We have lost our beautiful son Alfie because of what we see as a design flaw and we are passionate for this to never happen again.”
A 55-year-old man was arrested by Devon and Cornwall Police on the suspicion of causing death by careless driving after the incident in February 2023, and was subsequently released on police bail. The driver, however, passed away due to natural causes prior to his prosecution, leading to the omission of his name from the Coroner's report.
Jaguar Land Rover has until October 22 to submit a response to the report.
Hollie Muckley, from law firm HCC, who supported the family at the Inquest, added: "The Coroner has now formally concluded the Inquest and although this was hugely challenging for the family it has gone some way to answering key questions they had about the circ*mstances. The family now politely requests privacy as they continue to come to terms with their tragic loss and await the response from Jaguar Land Rover in relation to the Prevention of Future Deaths order instructed by the Coroner.”
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