Meadow Walker, 16, has filed a ‘wrongful death’ lawsuit against German carmaker Porsche for perceived safety errors leading to her father’s death in a car crash nearly two years now.
Meadow is the daughter of late American actor Paul Walker who passed in a fatal car crash in November, 2013. Walker was in the passenger seat and the Porsche Carrera GT was driven by his friend, Roger Rodas, at 94mph (151kph) in a 45mph region when it ran into a lamppost, according to the BBC.
The Los Angeles Times has it that Meadow is blaming Porsche for the accident, alleging the carmaker bypassed safety procedures by placing a 605-horsepower engine in the Porsche Carrera GT, an engine strong enough to do 205mph, whilst selling it as a race car licensed for the road.
Thousands gathered at the crash site to pay tributes to the late star. Credit: Daily Mail
Meadow’s complaint, according to LA Times, was that the Porsche had knowledge of the car’s record of instability but failed to install a control mechanism to sort out the issue.
According to the suit: “[Porsche knew the model] had a history of instability and control issues but failed to install its electronic stability control system, which is specifically designed to protect against the swerving actions inherent in hyper-sensitive vehicles of this type.”
The car model also had seat belts that were unusually fashioned so that they trapped him in the accident, the lawsuit said.
“[The car’s seatbelt] snapped Walker’s torso back with thousands of pounds of force, thereby breaking his ribs and pelvis, flattening his seat and trapping him in a supine position, where he remained alive until the vehicle erupted into flames one minute and 20 seconds later,” it read.
Meadow and her lawyers are pressing charges against Porsche Carrera GT for its “[lack of] safety features… that could have prevented the accident or, at minimum, allowed Paul Walker to survive the crash.”
Jeff Milam, Meadow’s lawyer, said she filed the lawsuit but will not comment on it.
“She’s a teenage girl who is dealing with the tragic loss of her father. The bottom line is that the Porsche Carrera GT is a dangerous car. It doesn’t belong to the street,” Milam concluded.
Porsche has not responded the lawsuit and allegations. Paul Walker attended the charity function on November 30, 2013 and was driven in a 2005 Porsche Carrera by friend, Rogers Rodas.
The star was already filming ‘Furious 7’ at the time but took a break to attend the event.
The fatal crash occurred at 3.30pm on Hercules street, Santa Clarita, California on November, 30 2013. In 2014, Rodas’ widow pressed charges in a related suit, blaming the accident on Porsche’s negligence. But the attorneys of the automobile company dismissed the allegations, saying the late driver was at fault. “Roger Rodas’s death, and all other injuries or damages claimed, were the result of Roger Rodas’s own comparative fault,” the attorneys said to Kristine Rodas.
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