Luxury car manufacturer Porsche claims that the November 30, 2013 crash that killed Fast & Furious star Paul Walker was his “own comparative fault.” Seeking to have the wrongful death lawsuit that the actor’s teenage daughter filed in late September tossed, Porsche said late last week that the 2005 Porsche Carrera CT Walker and driver Roger Rodas were in had been “abused and altered” as well as “misused and improperly maintained.”
The company formally contends in their 7-page filing that such changes contributed to Walker’s death in the fiery crash that claimed the lives of Paul and Roger. That’s in direct contradiction to the jury seeking complaint that Meadow Rain Walker and her guardian Brandon Birtell filed in L.A. Superior Court on September 28. The teen’s lawyers allege that Walker was killed because the car lacked the necessary electronic stability control system and he was trapped in the burning vehicle by a “defective” seat belt, among other causes. In their response on November 12, the Volkswagen-owned Porsche also says that the seasoned driver of the blockbuster car movies knew the car could be dangerous.
“PCNA 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 danger were open and obvious and known to him, and that he chose to conduct himself in a manner so as to expose himself to such perils, dangers and risks, thus assuming all the risks involved in using the vehicle,” Porsche adds. “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.”