Porsche Being Sued By Paul Walker’s Daughter Citing Unsafe Carrera GT
By Paulo Acoba
16-year-old Meadow Walker is suing Porsche citing various safety features standard on lower model Porsches were not included.
Almost two years after the untimely death of Paul Walker and his business associate Roger Rodas it looks like Meadow Walker, Paul Walker’s daughter is trying her best to set the record straight and bring justice to the death of her father. The 16-year-old filed papers in a Los Angeles court earlier yesterday (Sept. 29, 2015) according to TMZ stating that since the Porsche Carrera GT skimped on so many safety features, this contributed the majority of the fault that resulted in her father dying strapped inside the Porsche. The definitive reports by the LA County Sheriff’s department point to speed being the number one reason Walker and Rodas died and quite frankly stated that their death was almost immediate.
According to Meadow Walker, her father was alive for at least 80 seconds as the coroner’s investigation revealed that there was soot present in Paul Walkers lungs, shedding light on the fact that Walker was still breathing after the Carrera GT caught fire. Poor seat belt design snapped Walker’s ribs and pelvis and held him in place, preventing his escape. Fuel lines didn’t have “break free fittings to automatically shut off” the flow of fuel and the doors lacked any sort of reinforcement. Finally, the Carrera GT lacked any sort of Porsche Stability Mangement which would’ve prevented any unwanted swerving. But according to Porsche engineers in their talks with Car and Driver when the car first came out, “the driving behavior is very good, and there is, therefore, no need for it.
Whether or not their suit holds up in court is now up to our court system. All cars go through a battery of testing by NHTSA before being allowed to be sold so there’s usually a baseline of safety that every car must meet. Walker and Rodas knew full well what kind of car they were driving. After all, Walker owned a couple more Porsche’s himself. Sure, the Porsche Carrera GT is tad less safe than many modern supercars in its price range but all the safety systems in the world can’t prevent someone from taking a car past its limits. Even cars equipped with stability control offer the option of turning them off altogether. The Carrera GT was designed to be a raw racing car. It’s only as dangerous as whomever’s behind the wheel.