Paul Walker crash: Wife of driver Roger Rodas sues Porsche for negligence and wrongful death
Kristine Rodas files a lawsuit against the motoring brand claiming that the car was faulty
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Your support makes all the difference.Kristine Rodas, the wife of driver Roger Rodas who died with Paul Walker in the fatal 2013 car accident, has filed a lawsuit against Porsche – the car company who designed and created the vehicle they were travelling in.
Rodas is suing the brand over claims that the 2005 Porsche Carrera GT did not have a proper crash cage or safety features in the gas tank that would have saved both victims.
The legal documents maintain that the car did not have a fuel cell, which is found in many race cars and stops the fuel from igniting in any crashes. The case also claims that faulty suspension in the vehicle forced it to lose control, causing the accident.
“The Carrera GT was unsafe for its intended use by reason of defects in its manufacture, design, testing, component and constituents, so that it would not safely serve its purpose,” the lawsuit states.
Both Walker and Rodas were killed in the crash in November last year. Rodas was driving the car back from a charity event in California, when the vehicle collided with trees and a pole.
The allegations contrast with an investigation previously made into the cause of the accident by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in March, which named speed, and not mechanical problems, as the reasons behind the crash.
Rodas was driving between 80 to 93mph in a 45mph zone when he lost control of the vehicle, according to investigators.
“Investigators determined the cause of the fatal solo-vehicle collision was unsafe speed for the roadway conditions,” Commander Mike Parker said at the time.
“The vehicle had no mechanical failure and the damage that occurred to the vehicle was from the collision.”
Rodas is seeking unqualified damages.
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