Legal News

Judge tosses seat belt suit

By Jonathan Hayter

In one of the last class actions pending against seat belt buckle manufacturer Takata Corp., a Los Angeles Superior Court judge has tossed out all of the plaintiffs' claims, which defense attorneys estimated involved damages of about $247 million.

The suit is one of many class actions filed against seat belt buckle manufacturers and automobile manufacturers alleging that certain seat belts unbuckle on their own during accidents, said David R. Kelly, founding partner of Bowman & Brooke in Minneapolis and an attorney for Takata. Several of those cases have since been dismissed.

In the California case, filed six years ago, the plaintiffs had alleged that that the buckles had never been properly tested as required by a section of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards to assure they would not unbuckle on their own, he said. Zavala v. Takata, No. BC 277327 (Los Angeles Co., Calif., Sup. Ct.).

Full story on NLJ.com.

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on January 27, 2009 (boomark / email).