Meadow Walker, the 16-year-old daughter of late Paul Walker, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Porsche, seeking unspecified damages for alleged defects of the Carrera GT that led to the actor’s death.
According to the lawsuit obtained by TMZ, Meadow Walker’s lawyers claim that when the Porsche Carrera GT crashed, Paul’s seat belt “snapped Walker’s torso back with thousands of pounds of force, thereby breaking his ribs and pelvis,” and trapping him in the passenger seat as the car caught fire.
The lawsuit also claims that the Fast & Furious star survived the impact of the crash but suffered horrifically as he was burned alive. According to the plaintiff, the fire didn’t start for 1 minute and 20 seconds after the impact, but Paul was trapped inside. When the fire broke out, he was still alive. “Paul Walker breathed soot into his trachea while the Porsche Carrera GT burned,” the suit alleges.
While law enforcement said the cause of the crash was speeding (80 to 93 mph), the lawsuit says driver Roger Rodas was only going between 63 and 71 mph when he lost control of the car. In addition, the suit claims the Porsche Carrera GT would never have skidded if it had an electronic stability control system.
According to Meadow’s lawyers, Porsche knew the Carrera GT had a “a history of instability and control issues.” These problems could have been solved had the automaker fitted the Carrera GT with a Porsche Stability Management System (PSM), which prevents swerving.
However, the lawyers claim that Porsche intentionally decided not to install the PSM in the Carrera GT, although it was standard in many other models. They also say the supercar had deficient side door reinforcements and fuel lines that did not adequately protect the car from erupting in flames.