Porsche Not to Blame for Paul Walker Crash, Judge Rules

by Steph Willems

Published: April 6th, 2016

porsche not to blame for paul walker crash judge rules

A federal judge has ruled against a lawsuit that claimed the Porsche Carrera GT driven by actor Paul Walker and Roger Rodas was to blame for their fatal crash.

The suit, filed by Kristine Rodas (widow of the driver), claimed that the Porsche lacked key safety features that contributed to the death of both men, but no evidence could be found to support this.

U.S. District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez also ruled that there was no evidence that the car’s rear suspension failed prior to the crash, which occurred in a California business park in November 2013.

Walker, who rose to fame in the Fast and the Furious movie franchise, was a passenger in the vehicle.

The Porsche collided with a tree and light pole, killing the occupants almost instantly, before being consumed by a post-crash fire.

“Plaintiff has provided no competent evidence that Rodas’ death occurred as a result of any wrongdoing on the part of defendant,” Gutierrez wrote of the case.

A police investigation (which Porsche engineers assisted in) found that speed, not mechanical faults, led to the crash. According to their findings, the Porsche was travelling at 94 miles per hour when it spun out and crashed.

Porsche, which has denied any wrongdoing related to the crash, is still facing two lawsuits filed by Walker’s daughter, Meadow, as well as his father.

[Source: Associated Press] [Image: Autoblog]

#CarreraGt #Crash #Lawsuit #LegalChallenges #PaulWalker #Porsche #Safety

Steph Willems

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7 of 36 comments

Chan on Apr 06, 2016

Is the expired tires thing true?

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- Gone4Day on Apr 06, 2016
  
  From my experience, it could be a significant factor. I’ve got a weekend ride that doesn’t get many miles on it. Although the tread depth was fine, the rubber had gone hard after 7+ years. This was causing the rear to break away easily and the ABS to engage early. Didn’t try any high speed turns but the result could have been unpredictable at best. Four new tires fixed the problem.
  
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- Drew8MR on Apr 06, 2016
  
  It certainly is, as any motorcycle mechanic can attest.They get left sitting more than cars and much more often are stored indoors. I have an 06 Ducati sitting right here on factory rubber that looks brand new but has the grip of a bucket of marbles.
  
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- Jack Denver on Apr 07, 2016
  
  Yes, definitely. If you drive 95 mph in a 45 mph zone and you hit a concrete lamppost, it's definitely due to the tires being out of date. Snark aside, it's possible that the old rubber contributed to the loss of control - this would still be the fault of the owner/driver, not any deep pocketed third party, and so was not brought up by the plaintiff. There is nothing that Michelin would love more than a law or legal ruling requiring you to discard your tires every 6 years.
  
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Carlson Fan on Apr 06, 2016

I suspect neither Roger or Paul would be OK with any of these lawsuits. No doubt both knew the risks when they climbed into the car that day

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Energetik9 on Apr 07, 2016

Good. And good on Porsche for fighting this lawsuit instead of just settling.

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Jacob_coulter on Apr 07, 2016

It's funny how there's almost universal agreement that we need some sort of tort reform, but it never happens. The concept that "everybody gets their day in court" makes about as much sense "everybody gets arrested so they can prove they haven't broken the law."

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