Ruling by Maine judge could hurt GM for years

The eight men and women from Cumberland County were evenly divided over whether General Motors Corp. was liable for a debilitating head injury suffered by Maria Allen of Naples, whose Chevrolet Lumina van spun into a rock beside a rural highway in Poland in 1999.

The hung jury leaves Allen exactly where she started when the case first came to trial. But internal General Motors documents that her lawyers introduced as evidence could advance dozens of similar lawsuits against the world's largest automaker in courtrooms all over the United States.

Memos and reports shown to the jury in Portland detail an internal debate within General Motors, in which safety engineers fought to design and test safer car seats for decades before their introduction in the late 1990s. Court documents include a study by General Motors safety engineers that concludes a new seat design would prevent many serious injuries.

Perhaps the most damaging is a memo to engineers from General Motors attorney Gary Toth, who argued against introducing a new seat design. Toth feared it would make the company look as if it were acknowledging it had a problem that needed fixing.

http://www.pressherald.com/news/state/030714lawsuit.shtml

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I've been involved in sports car racing for years. One of the biggest concerns in "stock" cars has always been the seat.

why lawyers have such a bad rap. this guy actually argued AGAINST making safety improvements because it might look like there was a problem before? he, personally, should be taken out back and beaten within an inch of his life, summarily fired, disbarred, and maybe ever tarred and feathered. asshole.

.... tell us what you really think :)

And BTW I agree with you.

and people wonder why lawyers have such a bad rap.

just remember that without lawyers, Maria Allen would have a snowball's chance in hell of getting any compensation.

Don't do what is correct or helpful now because it might show that you were wrong in the past. Rumsfeld & number of troops in Iraq.

Love the title :eyes:

Won't the injured party(ies) be hurt for years?