Porsche Responds to Lawsuit, Says Paul Walker’s Death Was His Own Fault
The end of this month marks the two year anniversary of Paul Walker’s tragic, premature death. Driving with friend Roger Rodas in Rodas’ red 2005 Porsche Carrera GT, the pair died instantly after colliding with a concrete lamppost and two trees while driving at a speed estimated to have been between 80 and 93 miles per hour. The coroner’s report definitively confirmed that there were no alcohol or recreational drugs present in the toxicity screens performed on both men, and also suggested that the vehicle hadn’t developed any technical malfunctions. Not quite swayed by this report, Walker’s daughter Meadow filed a lawsuit against Porsche under the banner of “wrongful death,” attributing her father’s untimely death to numerous defects in the car’s design.
Industry trade papers are now reporting that officials from Porsche have handed down a response to the lawsuit, claiming that the accident and any injuries sustained therein were ultimately Walker and Rodas’ “own comparative fault.” The company went on to contend that the vehicle the pair had been driving in on that fateful November night had been “abused and altered” as well as “misused and improperly maintained,” explaining that custom-made changes to the car were the real cause of the crash. The response (available online in full here, courtesy of Deadline) also asserts that as the lead actor in a film franchise organized around car-based danger, Walker was well aware of the risks he was accepting by hopping in a Porsche.
That’s pretty cold, Porsche. Legal proceedings are what they are, and for all we know Porsche may very well be in the right on the matter, but even so — Porsche will not win themselves any new fans with this one.