Facts

On Oct. 6, 2013, at 2 a.m., plaintiff was driving a vehicle northbound in the City of Los Angeles, with three other plaintiff passengers. Plaintiffs were on their way to the hospital. At the time of the incident, defendant driver was intoxicated and driving vehicle eastbound and entered the intersection on a red light where plaintiffs were traveling northbound.

Defendant driver T-boned plaintiffs' vehicle at approximately 35 mph, impacting the left rear passenger door. The force of the impact caused the left rear passenger door of plaintiffs' vehicle to open, resulting in the ejection of two of the plaintiffs. After being thrown across the roadway, one of the plaintiffs came to rest on a sidewalk adjacent to the roadway and suffered a traumatic brain injury.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiffs asserted claims against plaintiffs' vehicle manufacturer entities for strict-product liability, negligent product liability, and negligent infliction of emotional distress. Plaintiffs contended that the vehicle had a defectively designed door latch that was prone to unlatching in foreseeable mild to moderate side impact events. Meaning not enough force to deploy the side airbag, but nevertheless unlatch and pop open the door since door-lock cable is too short, has no slack, and so acts as a tension rod and the inertia loading of the outside door handle combined with deformation of the rear-door outer panel caused it to unlatch.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
The vehicle manufacturer contended that defendant driver was convicted of DUI and plaintiffs' vehicle was not built to take an impact of that severity at that speed.

Result

The case settled for $5.8 million.

Other Information

The defendant driver was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol and causing bodily injury.