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ARTICLE ID 43323
$________ DURING TRIAL - Product Liability - Design Defect - Auto Defect - Occupant Restraint Defect - Defective and dangerous design - Failure of vehicle to be equipped with shoulder harness center rear seat belt - Center rear seat passenger is rendered paraplegic.
Los Angeles County, California
The female 17-year-old plaintiff passenger in an automobile was
rendered a paraplegic when the center rear seat belt, which did
not have a shoulder harness, failed to properly restrain her
during a collision.
The plaintiff was a rear seat passenger in a ________ compact motor
vehicle. The driver of the vehicle, also 17 years old, stated
that he was "testing out" his new vehicle to see how it handled
at high speed on windy mountain roads. The vehicle in which the
plaintiff was seated collided head-on at a high speed with
another vehicle. The plaintiff was restrained in the center rear
seat by a lap belt only. As a result of the high speed collision
and the severity of the impact, the plaintiff was "jack-knifed"
over her seat belt, suffering a spinal fracture that rendered her
a paraplegic.
The plaintiff brought suit on a product liability theory against
the manufacturer of the vehicle alleging that the design of the
center rear seatbelt was deficient and dangerous and failed to
adequately protect the plaintiff. The plaintiff alleged that the
vehicle should have been equipped with a shoulder harness rear
center seatbelt that would have adequately protected the
plaintiff in this type of collision.
The defendant denied the plaintiff’s allegations that the vehicle
was defectively designed. The defendant also denied that it was
the cause of the plaintiff’s injuries. The defendant maintained
that the plaintiff’s injuries were caused by the driver’s
aggravated negligence in driving recklessly at a high rate of
speed on a winding mountain road. The defendant argued that no
restraint system is adequate to protect a passenger against
severe frontal impacts such as the one that occurred in this
incident. The defendant also disputed the nature and extent of
the plaintiff’s alleged injuries.
The matter settled during the course of the trial for the sum of
$________.
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