Parents File Suit Against Walmart, Bike Maker After Son's Front Wheel Falls Off

The parents of a minor boy have filed a personal injury suit against Walmart and a bicycle manufacturer, alleging that they are at fault for the front wheel of the child’s bicycle falling off as he was riding it, causing him to fall onto his face.

Stephanie and John Klug filed suit in West Virginia’s Wetzel Circuit Court on the behalf of their minor son, identified only as C.M.K., naming Walmart and Pacific Cycle as defendants.

The Klugs said the incident took place on October 4, 2008 while their son was riding his Mongoose XR-75 bike on a paved road in a New Martinsville, West Virginia city park.

The suit said that while the boy was riding the bike, the front wheel “suddenly broke free from the front bicycle fork,” causing him to fly over the handle bars and land face-first on the pavement. He sustained severe and permanent injuries and experienced pain, suffering, mental anguish, and a loss of ability to enjoy life, according to the suit.

The Klugs claim Walmart was negligent in its defective assembly of the bicycle, which resulted in the boy’s injury. They claim Pacific Cycle was negligent by allowing Walmart to assemble and market its products.

The defendants argue that the incident was the result of an accident, rather than their negligence. They seek to have the complaint dismissed and be awarded costs of suit, including attorney’s fees.