The car company responded to a wrongful death lawsuit filed in September by the 'Fast and Furious' actor's teenage daughter Meadow Walker.
- Nov 17, 2015
AceShowbiz - Porsche has responded to a wrongful death lawsuit filed two months ago by Paul Walker's daughter Meadow. The luxury car company remains headstrong that the actor caused his own death, believing that the teenager should be barred from receiving any compensation because her father "was a knowledgeable and sophisticated user of the car."
Back in September this year, Meadow stated in her lawsuit that the type of car her father rode, Porsche Carrera GT, "lacked safety features... that could have prevented the accident or, at a minimum, allowed Paul Walker to survive the crash." It further claimed that Paul might have been able to exit the vehicle before it caught on fire if the seat belt was well-designed.
Porsche begged to differ. In a document obtained by PEOPLE, Porsche "alleges that Mr. Walker knowingly and voluntarily assumed all risk, perils and danger in respect to the use of the subject 2005 Carrera GT, that the perils, risk and dangers were open and obvious and known to him, and that he chose to conduct himself in a manner as to expose himself to such perils, dangers and risks, thus assuming all the risks involved in using the vehicle."
The car company continued, "Mr. Walker's voluntary assumption of the risk should bar the plaintiff's recovery or, in the alternative, should reduce the plaintiff's right to recovery from PCNA in an amount equivalent to Mr. Walker's fault." They believed that the car "was misused and improperly maintained, and that the misuse and improper maintenance proximately caused or contributed to the incident and to Mr. Walker's death."
Paul's friend Roger Rodas was actually the one behind the wheels when the car lost control and hit a concrete lamppost as well as trees in November 2013. Police determined that the driver was going between 80 and 93 MPH in a 45 MPH speed zone near Kelly Johnson Parkway in Valencia, Santa Clarita, California. Rodas also died in the incident.
This is not the first time Porsche has responded to Meadow's accusations. "As we have said before, we are very sad whenever anyone is hurt in a Porsche vehicle, but we believe the authorities' reports in this case clearly establish that this tragic crash resulted from reckless driving and excessive speed," Porsche said in a statement immediately after Meadow filed her papers in late September.
