This dispute arises from the death of 88-year-old Ronald Fronckowiak (the “Decedent”) by carbon monoxide toxicity. Specifically, on the evening of February 22, 2022, Rebecca Jaeger, age 72, drove the Decedent in his 2017 Kia Sorento from the hospital-where he was being treated for a dislocated shoulder and confusion-to the couple’s rental home in Spring Hill, Florida.
Jaeger exited the vehicle, assisted the Decedent out of the vehicle, and they both proceeded inside with the key fob, which was ultimately left on the kitchen table. Tragically, they left the car running in the enclosed single-car garage.
The next morning, officers from the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office performed a wellness check on the couple after the Decedent’s family had not made contact with him. Decedent was found deceased in the room next to the garage, and it was later determined that he died from carbon monoxide toxicity.
The 2017 Kia Sorento is designed with keyless ignition technology, but does not include an automatic shutoff feature. More broadly, 83% of 2017 model year vehicles were found to not offer an automatic shutoff feature, and 91% did not include this as a standard feature.
Defendant Kia America, Inc. filed a motion to exclude the testimony of Plaintiffs’ expert witnesses Peter A. Hancock and David J. Bizzak.
Human Factors Expert Witness
Peter Adrian Hancock has served as a past president of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and other professional organizations. His work includes decades of research, publication, and application of HF/E principles to real-world systems, including transportation systems and human interaction with vehicle technologies.
Mechanical Engineering Expert Witness
David John Bizzak is a Professional Engineer (P.E.) and holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering. Furthermore, he is also a Certified Fire and Explosion Investigator (C.F.E.I.) and Certified Vehicle Fire Investigator (C.V.F.I.). Bizzak has decades of experience investigating and analyzing automotive systems and other product designs for safety hazards, defects, and failure modes.
Discussion by the Court
Peter Hancock
According to Hancock, the vehicle appeared to have provided insufficient cues as to its continuing, activated status. However, the Court held that such opinions are not directly relevant to the design defect analysis at hand.
Hancock also opined that there was an “absence of effective, explicitly designed status warning cues.” This opinion, however, is conclusory and unsupported by any articulable methodology.
David Bizzak
Similarly, although Bizzak provided more relevant opinions in his report, these do not necessarily signify that the vehicle failed to perform as safely as expected or was unreasonably dangerous.
According to Bizzak, the subject Kia Sorento was defective by virtue of the fact that it was not equipped with features necessary to guard against carbon monoxide poisoning resulting from an operator inadvertently failing to turn off the ignition before exiting the vehicle.
However, the Court concluded that the key opinion provided in Bizzak’s report that addressed the alleged design defect was conclusory, as no discernable methodology was provided.
Held
Accordingly, the Court granted-in-part Defendant Kia’s motion to exclude the testimony of Peter A. Hancock and David J. Bizzak.
Key Takeaway
Importantly, neither Daubert nor Federal Rule of Evidence 702 requires a trial judge to admit opinion evidence that is connected to existing data only by the ipse dixit of the expert. Instead, the judge is free to conclude that there is simply too great an analytical gap between the data and the opinion proffered.
Case Details:
| Case Caption: | Fronckowiak V. Kia America, Inc. |
| Docket Number: | 8:24cv863 |
| Court Name: | United States District Court, Florida Middle |
| Order Date: | April 15, 2026 |
