Paul Walker died in a Porsche back on November 30, 2013. Now, nearly two years after the tragedy, his father has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the automaker, claiming they failed to install safety features that could have saved his son’s life.
Racing pro Roger Rodas was driving the 2005 Porsche Carrera GT that hit a lamppost and tree in an L.A. suburb killing both himself and Paul Walker. Both men were reportedly burned beyond recognition.
Paul Walker's father sues Porsche for wrongful death and negligence: https://t.co/jbVRDA3rah pic.twitter.com/osYTbnUMpE
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) November 26, 2015
NBC News reports that Los Angeles County and state investigators later determined that high speeds–and not a mechanical failure–caused the crash that killed the Fast & Furious star. The Carrera GT can reach a top track speed of 205 mph, according to Porsche.
Lawyers for Paul Walker III say the car “lacked safety features that are found on well-designed racing cars or even Porsche’s least expensive road cars — features that could have prevented the accident or, at a minimum, allowed Paul Walker to survive the crash.” This is stated in the wrongful death lawsuit.
The suit says “Porsche failed to install an electronic stability control system, which is meant to “protect against” the swerving actions in hypersensitive vehicles, and the vehicle was built with side-door reinforcements “weaker in strength.””
The lawsuit also alleges that the car’s seatbelt was defective.
The design supposedly “snapped Paul 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 twenty seconds later,” according to the lawsuit.
Paul Walker is survived by a teenage daughter, Meadow Walker. It’s likely if Paul Walker’s father is awarded anything in this lawsuit, that it will be put away for Meadow in the coming years.
Do you think Porsche is responsible for Paul Walker’s death, or was driver error to blame instead?