The father of Paul Walker and the widow of the race car driver killed along with the actor in the 2013 crash of a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT in Valencia filed lawsuits Wednesday claiming negligence by the automaker as the cause of their deaths.
Paul William Walker III and Kristine Rodas filed separate lawsuits in Los Angeles Superior Court, both seeking unspecified damages.
A representative for Porsche could not be immediately reached for comment.
But in court papers filed in response to a similar lawsuit filed Sept. 28 on behalf of Walker’s 16-year-old daughter, Meadow Rain Walker, attorneys for Porsche stated that the car in which Walker and Rodas were killed was “misused and improperly maintained. (Meadow) is barred from recovery because Mr. Walker was a knowledgeable and sophisticated user of the (car).”
Authorities have cited high speed for the fiery crash on Nov. 30, 2013, that killed Walker, 40, and 38-year-old Roger Rodas, who was driving the car.
Electronic information retrieved from the burned-out car’s computer systems determined that Rodas was driving at speeds between 80 and 93 mph when the car slammed into a pole and a tree.
Porsche marketed the 605-horsepower car as “a racing car licensed for use on the road,” the two suits state.
“Despite Porsche knowing that the Carrera GT had a history of instability and control issues, Porsche failed to install its electronic stability control system, which is specifically designed to protect against the swerving actions inherent in hyper-sensitive vehicles of this type,” both suits allege.
Porsche also used side door reinforcement bars that lacked adequate welds and were made of material weaker than what is used in most popular cars, including the Honda Civic, according to both lawsuits.
Rodas and the “Fast and Furious” actor would be alive but for those alleged defects, the two suits allege.
