Hyundai and Kia have agreed to a $200 million settlement as a result of a class-action lawsuit over car thefts inspired by a TikTok trend, the Verge reports.
The trend in question is called the “Kia Challenge” on the social media platform TikTok, spurred by videos shared by a group called “the Kia Boyz” that show how to avoid triggering a vehicle’s security system with tools such as USB cables. The videos have led to hundreds of cases of vehicles being stolen, as well as at least 14 reported crashes and eight fatalities, as stated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Hyundai and Kia vehicles produced from 2015 through 2019 do not have an electronic immobilizer, which prevents the ignition from being bypassed–a feature that was standard for “nearly all vehicles from the same period made by other manufacturers.”
The settlement will cover roughly 9 million vehicles without push-button ignitions and anti-theft immobilizers. $145 million will go to cover out-of-pocket costs for drivers who had their vehicles stolen, as reported by Reuters.
