Hyundai has agreed to pay a settlement after being hit with a class action suit concerning the TikTok car theft challenges. However, New York City believes that the carmaker still has a lot to answer for as it sues Hyundai for negligence.
Hyundai is Not Out of the Woods
Hyundai tried to put the scandal behind them as they agreed to settle for $200 million in the class action suit. Even though a significant amount of the settlement will serve as compensation to the affected Kia and Hyundai car owners, NYC believes otherwise.
The city accuses Hyundai of being negligent which has led to becoming a burden to police forces and resources. Since the challenge had been viral, reports of safety issues have surfaced such as thief and owner disputes, reckless driving, and even fatal accidents.
The lawsuit states that the automaker tried to "sacrifice public safety for profits" by skipping out on anti-theft features that are included in the vehicles in other markets. Vehicles sold in Europe and Canada have the feature simply regulations require them to, as reported by Engadget.
With the allegedly deliberate exclusion of anti-theft vehicle immobilizers, the viral TikTok hack was easily performed, resulting in a 660% increase in vehicle thefts of the affected brands in the first four months of 2023.
The viral challenge instructs TikTok users to hotwire the Kia and Hyundai vehicles using nothing but a USB cord. With the common object easily found in device chargers, people, more often teenagers would try it out for themselves using another person's car.
Kia Challenge was at its height in 2022, which has resulted in many reports of theft and accidents as well. The content creators who try the hack out would post their experience on social media, further encouraging others to do it themselves.
Hyundai tried to resolve the issue back in February by providing the impacted car owners free software updates by taking them to the automaker's dealerships. The update renders the hack useless as the vehicle can only be turned on using its designated key.
For the owners of vehicles that are not eligible for the update as well as the ones that are, they were provided with steering wheel locks for extra security, which adds to the measure where Hyundai vehicles can only be unlocked using the key fob.
Kia Challenge Results in Fatal Accident
A car crash in Buffalo claimed the lives of four teenagers after attempting the said challenge, one of which was a mother. The driver was said to be 16 years old at the time and had survived the crash along with another girl who was 14 years old.
The Kia that was used was reported stolen, which led to the driver being charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle and criminal possession of stolen property. The vehicle that was hotwired was reportedly totaled, according to The New York Post.
The incident happened around late October 2022, which just shows that the Kia Challenge is still being performed months after it went viral, also despite the reports of fatalities. The software updates by Hyundai may have helped, but evidence shows that it was not completely effective.
