Child Injured In Accident
GM, Car Seat Maker Targeted
Confidential Settlement The parents of a 12-month-old girl who was severely injured in an automobile accident filed a products liability suit against General Motors and a car seat manufacturer.
On Aug. 2, 2001, Melissa Lawson was driving with her daughter, Meliyah, on Highway 32 in Lebanon, Mo. Meliyah was in a Graco Children's Products child seat in the front seat of the car, a 1992 Pontiac LeMans. The seat was an overhead shield convertible model manufactured in 2000. The passenger seat in the car had an automatic motorized shoulder harness and a manual lap belt with an emergency locking retractor.
While traveling 55 mph, the car collided with another vehicle that tried to make a turn in front of it. Meliyah's child car seat moved forward against the instrument panel and her head struck the overhead shield on the seat. She suffered a severe and permanent brain injury, confining her to a wheelchair for the rest of her life in need of round-the-clock care.
Meliyah's mother sued the driver for negligence and GM and Graco for defective design. She claimed that the restraint system in the front passenger seat was defective because the seat belt retractor on the lap belt could not tightly secure a child seat. Furthermore, she said, the owner's manual improperly stated that it was safe to put a child seat in the front. She said GM knew the safest place for a child seat was in the back, pointing to language in GM's European owners manuals that said child seats should be placed in the rear.
GM contended that the car's seat belt properly restrained the child seat. It also said that due to the severity of the collision, Meliyah would have suffered severe brain injury regardless of the type of belt used to secure her seat.
In the suit against Graco, the mother claimed the child seat was defective because the overhead shield had a hard surface that could lead to a head injury in a frontal collision. She contended that discovery revealed Graco knew before the seat was put on the market that smaller children would strike their head on the shield during a frontal collision.
Graco argued that even though millions of that type of child seat have been sold since the mid-1980s, no child has suffered a serious injury from striking his or her head on the overhead shield. Graco said Meliyah's injuries were caused by the severe nature of the accident together with improper use of the child seat in the front.
The other driver settled for the $100,000 policy limits before trial, and GM and Graco settled for confidential amounts.
Type of Action: Products liability
Type of Injuries: Severe and permanent brain injury requiring lifetime 24-hour care
Court/Case No./Date: St. Louis County Circuit Court/03CC000991/Oct. 25, 2004
Caption: Lawson, et al. v. Graco Children's Products, et al.
Judge, Jury or ADR: Jury
Name of Judge: Emmett M. O'Brien
Special Damages: $382,901.58 past medical expense, $13.5 million future medical expense
Last Offer: N/A
Last Demand: N/A
Verdict or Settlement: Confidential settlement
Allocation of Fault: N/A
Attorneys for Plaintiffs: Robert L. Langdon and Robert C. Sullivan, Langdon & Emison, Lexington, Missouri; Jim Moore, Lebanon
Insurance Carrier: Self-insured
Plaintiff's Experts: Dr. Joseph Burton, Atlanta (biomechanics/occupant kinematics); Louis D'Aulerio, Philadelphia (design); Robert Eilers, Chicago (life care planner), Bernard Pettingill, Palm Beach, Fla. (economist); Jerry Wallingford, San Antonio (accident reconstruction)
Defendant GM's Experts: Brent Benson, Provo, Utah (accident reconstruction); Dr. Charles Hatsell, San Antonio (biomechanics); Robert Sinke, Detroit (automotive engineer); James White, Detroit (automotive engineer)
Defendant Graco's Experts: Kevin Breen, Fort Meyers, Fla. (accident reconstruction); Lawrence Thibault, Philadelphia (biomechanics); William VanArsdell, Boston (design)
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