And you'll notice that in the original case the Plaintiff had tried to sue for the nine year old, who HAD NOT been wearing a seatbelt at all! How is that VWs fault? On 1/28/06, mark drillock <drillock@earthlink.net> wrote: > > Any breakage of the rear bench seat belt was most likely due to damage > that occurred to it before the accident. I have seen plenty of them that > have been repeatedly caught up in the bench mechanism with numerous cuts > to prove it. Others I have seen were clearly exposed to abrasions and > chemicals from items stored under the bench. > > You may be able to argue that the ease with which the seat belts get > damaged is itself a defect but it is not a weakness of the belt itself > IMHO. At some point the owner bears some responsibility to replace > damaged belts and avoid future damage. > > I have also seen plenty of front seat shoulder belts with damage from > gnawing, presumably by pets left in the vehicle while the owner shopped > or something. > > Mark > > Geza Polony wrote: > > >No, but it's worth doing... > > > >I mis-titled this when I put it on yesterday. It's a lawsuit brought > against > >VW of America by accident victims in Maine about 10 years ago, in which a > >Vanagon spun out on black ice, killed and maimed their kids because, as > they > >claimed, the seat belts BROKE during the accident! The evidence was > >disallowed in court because the Vanagon had already gone to the wreckers, > >and because of this VW won both the original case and an appeal. Here's > the > >case: > > > >http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/getopn.pl?OPINION=98-1812.01A > > > >Personally, I believe the testimony of the plaintiffs, even though I can > see > >why the evidence was thrown out. > > > >Conclusion: OEM seatbelts are inadequate, especially in the rear, because > >they don't include shoulder belts and because THEY BREAK on serious > impact. > > > >Sobering thought. Now back to something more fun. > > > > > >Geza > > > > > > > > >
-- Jake 1984 Vanagon GL 1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie" www.crescentbeachguitar.com |
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