Ohioans who are fans of the “Fast & Furious” movie series may be interested to learn that the late actor Paul Walker’s dad, who is the executor of his estate, recently filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles against Porsche. Porsche is the manufacturer of the car in which Mr. Walker was riding at the time of his accident and death.
Suits have already been filed against the manufacturer by the widow of the car’s driver as well as the late actor’s daughter. His father’s suit is based on state wrongful death and negligence law. In it, he alleges that the manufacturer was negligent in its failure to install standard safety features in the Porsche Carrera GT, including a breakaway fuel line, door reinforcements and stability control features.
The father also alleges that the car was traveling at a speed between 63 and 71 miles per hour, in contrast to the 94 miles per hour the manufacturer has claimed in its answers to the earlier-filed suits. The defendant has yet to file an answer to the father’s case. It is also likely that the widow of the driver will file a wrongful death lawsuit in state court. Currently, she has a federal lawsuit pending.
Liability for the death of a person who has been killed in a fatal car crash may depend upon whether the driver of the vehicle was negligent. In other cases, the responsible party could be the manufacturer, in the event there was a design or manufacturing defect that caused the person’s death. The surviving family members of a fatal accident victim may want to meet with an attorney to learn about the procedures involved in filing a wrongful death lawsuit as well as the types of damages that may be sought.
Source: Huffington Post, “Paul Walker’s dad files wrongful death lawsuit against Porsche,” Nov. 26, 2015.