Paul Walker's father sues Porsche over actor's death

[jdraupp]

Originally Posted by BIGJake111

If the car randomly caught fire while going 40 mph or something it would be different.

Cars don't wreck themselves unless they have defects.

No defect was at play here

There may have been defects but they weren't the factory's fault. This was car was wrecked and repaired several times. It had old tires. The only defects were caused by neglect. If only they would've gotten a ppi...

[Perfectlap]

Well I suppose I'm in the minority here. A lawsuit by the passenger is not the same as the lawsuit by the driver. Walker can't legally be held responsible for the driver's or Porsche's safety decisions. Also, this is the father, not the sister's cousin's half-brother's ex-wife who is suing. So let's not downplay what it means to the father, I doubt anyone would want to be facing this situation in the first place.

I also think this lawsuit coming now is largely because of Porsche's recent and very ill-advised remarks blaming Walker for Rodas' actions. That takes the cake for bone head move of the year by Porsche. I'm inclined to believe this because the father didn't bring a case following Walker's death, but he is now. Also, Porsche have no idea of knowing whether Walker told Rodas to slow down or to take it easy but they blamed Walker for Rodas' actions any way. That's an arshehole move in my book. I guess Porsche agree with their own Porsche salesman who told the media he flatly refused to ride as a passenger whenever someone came into test drive the CGT -- inherently unsafe for passengers even when properly maintained by a dealer? But he has no issue riding as a passenger in a 911, Boxster or Cayenne test drive? I'm sure that guy will be called as a witness... for Walker's family.

The CGT's seatbelts were anchored in a way that trapped Walker supine flat on his back so that he couldn't move an inch after the impact, effectively roasting him alive once the car caught fire, possibly due to a poor design choice in the fuel lines that made them more likely to cause a fire. That will be be hashed out in court, especially if discovery proves that Porsche were warned internally by their own safety engineers against these decisions for nothing more than the issue of passenger safety.