Here’s the background info on this from the 1/20/08 post:
Twenty-nine-year-old Owen Milne’s product liability suit goes to trial Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Burlington.
It says the Jetta had faulty roofs and seat-belt systems that made it unsafe.
Milne, of South Burlington, was left a quadriplegic in the crash, which occurred when his fiancee’s 1999 Jetta flipped after another vehicle swerved in front of it, collapsing the roof.
Volkswagen says the Jetta was perfectly safe. The German carmaker denies wrongdoing and blames the drivers of the cars for playing “cat and mouse” in traffic before the crash.”
Congrats to the jury for making a tough, but proper decision.
I would suspect that this favorable verdict came at great cost to VW. If the vehicle passed NHTSA safety standards for crashworthiness, and no faulty manufacturing defect was found, such as a faulty weld, then it should have been easier for the jury to make a defense verdict. No vehicle can be injury-proof. I am working on a similar case and cost already exceeds $250,000 before trial.
This is why we need a system akin to English law. If a plaintiff loses, he pays the defendants cost. We have a lotter system in this country where plaintiffs and their attorneys have no skin in the game. I’d rather eat the defense costs than pay megabucks to support this guy for life.
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Here’s the background info on this from the 1/20/08 post:
Twenty-nine-year-old Owen Milne’s product liability suit goes to trial Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Burlington.
It says the Jetta had faulty roofs and seat-belt systems that made it unsafe.
Milne, of South Burlington, was left a quadriplegic in the crash, which occurred when his fiancee’s 1999 Jetta flipped after another vehicle swerved in front of it, collapsing the roof.
Volkswagen says the Jetta was perfectly safe. The German carmaker denies wrongdoing and blames the drivers of the cars for playing “cat and mouse” in traffic before the crash.”
Congrats to the jury for making a tough, but proper decision.
I would suspect that this favorable verdict came at great cost to VW. If the vehicle passed NHTSA safety standards for crashworthiness, and no faulty manufacturing defect was found, such as a faulty weld, then it should have been easier for the jury to make a defense verdict. No vehicle can be injury-proof. I am working on a similar case and cost already exceeds $250,000 before trial.
This is why we need a system akin to English law. If a plaintiff loses, he pays the defendants cost. We have a lotter system in this country where plaintiffs and their attorneys have no skin in the game. I’d rather eat the defense costs than pay megabucks to support this guy for life.