The father of the late Fast & Furious star Paul Walker is to become the latest family member to sue German carmaker Porsche over his son’s death, reports Entertainment Weekly.
Paul William Walker III, who is the executor of the actor’s estate, is seeking unspecified damages from the Volkswagen-owned manufacturer for wrongful death and negligence. He claims the Porsche Carrera GT in which Walker was riding when he died was short on safety features which might have saved the actor’s life. Furthermore, the suit claims, Porsche was aware of the vehicle’s history of instability and control issues.
Paul Walker died aged 40, when his Porsche crashed and burst into flames in Valencia, Santa Clarita, on 30 November 2013. Driver Roger Rodas, 38, lost control of the vehicle, which careered into trees and a concrete lamppost, killing both men. Walker had been part way through the filming of Fast & Furious 7, which was delayed and eventually completed using the actor’s brothers, Caleb and Cody, as body doubles.
The lawsuit from the actor’s father follows a wrongful death claim filed in Los Angeles by the star’s daughter in September. Meadow Walker claims the car’s seatbelts were poorly designed to effectively trap passengers in the event of a crash, and is denying suggestions in a police report that the Porsche was travelling at around 90mph when the accident happened.
Porsche has hit back, insisting that because the limited edition car had allegedly been “abused and altered” as well as “misused and improperly maintained”, Walker’s death was the actor’s “own comparative fault”.
Rodas’s widow, Kristine, also filed her own lawsuit for wrongful death last year.
