And if they just wanted to send a message to the bike company, why sue the other girl?
Really, that last point really hits me poorly.
Heck, car parking brakes can fail on hills, so drivers need to know to turn their front wheels the right way to help prevent a runaway car. Many car parking brakes aren't designed for steep hills. Is the car maker at fault if the parking brake fails in an abnormal environment?
Some bikes with caliper brakes can have tire failures due to rim heating from long downhill braking. And a blown front tire could lead to a bad crash. Are the bike makers, wheel makers, brake makers, and tire makers at fault here too? Or perhaps California should be sued for making a road that's too steep?
As for rich people not suing because they need more money... these people sued their daughter's friend's family. How is that going to help? All that will do is add salt to the wound the living child probably has. In fact, it's just evil to do that to the other kid.
In this case, they want them to not spec bikes with flimsy components like the pathetic brakes described by a half-dozen people in that article as needing constant adjustment, with the consequences of forgetting to do it every couple weeks that you might die. I certainly won't buy an e-bike with those kind of brakes myself now, and the fact that no sane person who knows the risk would, really does suggest that perhaps selling such a bike now that we've seen the risks, is very irresponsible. I hope they get a huge settlement or judgment that makes all e-bike makers reconsider the position on the spectrum of cheap vs. safe that they have chosen.