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(Mirror Daily, United States) – Popular car maker Porsche claims that Paul Walker’s death was his own fault in light of the wrongful death lawsuit that was filed on behalf of the deceased actor’s teenage daughter. In fact, the company stated that the man was a “knowledgeable and sophisticated user” who knew exactly what he was getting into.
Paul Walker was most famously known for his role as Brian O’Conner in the ‘Fast And Furious’ movie franchises. The actor tragically died at 40 years old due to a car accident on November 30th, 2013, along with a friend, Roger Rodas. According to reports, Rodas was driving the Porsche Carrera GT that eventually went out of control and crashed into a power pole and several trees.
Both Walker and Rodas were at a charity event before they decided to take a ride in Santa Clarita, around 30 miles away from Hollywood. The accident happened only a few hundred yards away that saw to their death. Both men were experienced race car drivers, had no drugs or alcohol in their systems, and were wearing seatbelts at the moment of the impact.
As such, Walker’s daughter, Meadow Walker, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Porsche, claiming that the car had several design flaws and was unsafe for the streets. She seeks damages under the claim that the defects were contributors to her father’s death. According to her attorney, Jeff Milam, the car lacked the safety features that could’ve either prevented the crash, or at least aided Walker’s survival.
The statements continue to accuse that the side door reinforcements were weaker than what can be found in cars that are both cheaper and designed for slower speeds than the Carrera GT. Furthermore, it was claimed that the company failed to fix the car’s electronic stability control system even though the model has a history of said issues.
The seatbelt anchoring was faulty as well, as it essentially broke Walker’s clavicle, ribs, pelvis, and spine upon impact. It trapped the former actor into a horizontal position for the one minute and thirty seconds before the vehicle burst into flames. The fire, as well, was attributed to faulty manufacturing. The lawsuit states that it lacked the system that should have automatically stop fuel flow after the accident.
However, Porsche fired back, stating that the departed actor “assumed all risk” when he boarded the Carrera GT. Furthermore, they state that the vehicle was “abused and altered” to degrees that was neither “reasonable” for the model nor could the car maker foresee.
The County Sheriff also stated that speed was what killed Walker and his friend. The car was reportedly going between 80 to 93 mph in a 45 mph zone. However, investigators believe the car was actually going slower, at 63 to 71 mph before the car “suddenly went out of control”.
Porsche and their investigators state that there was nothing mechanical that caused the crash and made the car leave the road.
Roger Rodas died rapidly upon impact, while Paul Walker lived for 1 minute and 30 seconds longer, but reportedly perished as well before the smoke and flames engulfed the wrecked vehicle.