Important News from Your Texas Accident Lawyer
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds Jury Verdict
Posted on Aug 23, 2011
Our Lake Jackson, TX wrongful death attorneys were glad to see that the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an $810,000 jury verdict against Hyundai. The surviving family members of 19-year-old Sarah Goodner won the verdict from a wrongful death case that alleged an unsafe design defect. The case derived from a fatal car crash that tragically claimed Ms. Goodner's life. Young Ms. Goodner died after her reclined passenger seat in a 2005 Hyundai Tucson let her be ejected from the vehicle during a rollover wreck. Ms. Goodner wore her seatbelt at the time at the time of the wreck.
The Court upheld the jury verdict against Hyundai. The Court found that Lisa and Stuart Goodner, Sarah Goodner's parents, had sufficiently proven their claim that the 2005 Hyundai Tucson design constituted an unsafe design defect that led to Sarah Goodner's death. The seat design allowed the front passenger seat to recline at an angle of greater than 45 degrees. (Many auto manufacturers restrict their seats to a recline of no more than 45 degrees. And the rear seats of the 2005 Hyundai Tucson held a recline restriction of 45 degrees.)
During the wreck suffered by young Sarah Goodner and her sister, the SUV left the road, crashed into a barbed wire fence, and rolled over three times before coming to rest. Studies show that 50% to 75% of fatalities from rollover wrecks occur because the victim gets ejected from the vehicle. Sarah's sister, buckled into the un-reclined driver's seat, was not ejected, and survived the accident with only minor injuries.
Our Lake Jackson, TX wrongful death attorneys sympathize with the traumatic loss of the Goodner family. No one should lose their child or their sister at such a young age, or to such a design defect. We see justice in the Fifth Circuit's decision to uphold the jury verdict against Hyundai. Manufacturers should be held accountable when they issue a defective and unsafe product into the market. Particularly if that defect proves deadly to product consumers.
Sarah Goodner's life ended when it was just beginning. Chances are that her vehicle contained no warnings about the dangers of reclining your seat on a drive. And that Sarah Goodner had no knowledge that reclining your seat could even pose a danger.
Most of us probably assume that with all of the federal safety standards in place and the constant crash testing of vehicles, the car we buy must be safe for our use. We tend to assume that its features must represent the best possible designs for our safety. But this isn't always the case.
Young Sarah Goodner just wanted a chance to rest and relax until it was her turn to drive. But because her car had an unsafe design defect that permitted such a great angle of seat recline, her seatbelt could not hold her into the vehicle during the SUV's rollover wreck. And she lost her life far too early.
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