Scent of Danger: Is New-Car Smell Responsible for Car Accident?

Car crashes can be blamed on any number of factors, from mechanical malfunction to driver error. But what about new-car smell?

An accident expert investigating a hit-and-run in Edwards, Colo., says a collision between a driver and a bicyclist may have been caused, in part, by the fresh scent inside a month-old 2010 Mercedes-Benz sedan.

Motorist Martin Erzinger -- who suffers from sleep apnea -- says he dozed off and lost control of his car on July 3, rear-ending bicyclist Dr. Steven Milo and driving off before eventually crashing into a concrete culvert and waking up.

Eagle County Sheriff's Department

Lawyers representing Martin Erzinger say the Colorado motorist dozed off behind the wheel before he struck bicyclist Dr. Steven Milo in July. But an accident investigator has an unusual theory about what may have caused the collision: new-car smell.

According to forensic investigator John Koziol, a contributing factor in the accident -- which left Milo with serious spinal and facial injuries -- could be the Benz's new-car smell.

"Harmful and noxious gases emitted from the upholstery can infiltrate the driver's compartment and potentially alter the driver," Koziol wrote in court documents obtained by VailDaily.com.

It's unclear whether the odor defense will actually be used in court, where defense attorneys are expected to argue that Erzinger wasn't awake when he ran over Milo or when he drove away from the scene of the collision.

Erzinger was initially charged with two misdemeanors and a felony for leaving the scene of an accident causing serious bodily injury.

The felony charge against Erzinger was then controversially dropped as part of a proposed plea deal because a felony conviction could jeopardize the defendant's job as a Morgan Stanley money manager, potentially making it harder for him to pay damages, according to The Huffington Post.

But after protests from the victim's attorneys, the felony charge was refiled in October.

Read more at VailDaily.com and HuffingtonPost.com.