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[Rhea Thomas]

A man whose son was crushed to death by a soda vending machine has filed a $500,000 wrongful-death lawsuit against the company that manufactured the machine. The 27-year-old man apparently rocked the machine, which fell, pinning him against a wall and crushing his chest.

The father decided to sue after learning that his son`s death was not an isolated incident. "The penalty for jiggling a machine to get a quarter out or a free Coke shouldn`t be death," said the man`s lawyer. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission found that between 1978 and 1995, at least 37 deaths and 113 injuries resulted from falling vending machines, which can weigh 1,000 pounds.