The Auto Channel
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
Official Website of the New Car Buyer

Florida Court Overturns $8.2 Million Verdict Against General Motors Given to Paralyzed Man

TAMPA, Fla. November 19, 2004; The AP reported that a state appeals court overturned Friday a $8.2 million verdict against the automaking giant General Motors Corp. awarded to a paralyzed man who claimed his seat belt failed during a traffic accident.

The 2nd District Court of Appeal in Lakeland ruled the judge in the case improperly allowed jurors to see prejudicial videotape simulating how the seat belt buckle could be accidentally triggered. The court ordered a new trial, saying the videotape did not meet legal standards for scientific reliability and did not simulate actual conditions of the accident.

Carl D. Porritt was a passenger in a new Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck in 1995 when a drunken driver slammed into the back of the vehicle. The pickup rolled over, ejecting Porritt and leaving him paralyzed from the chest down.

A Pinellas County jury decided in 2002 that GM, the truck's maker, was liable for a seat belt latch that unexpectedly released from the force of the collision.

GM's attorneys had argued that Porritt was not wearing a seat belt. They presented witnesses who examined the latch in the days after the crash, tested it repeatedly and found that it worked properly.

The company also pointed out that the driver's seat belt did not fail, and she was not seriously injured.