Judge rules in favor of Porsche in Paul Walker crash

LOS ANGELES, USA – A California judge has thrown out a lawsuit against Porsche filed by the widow of a man who died alongside The Fast and the Furious star Paul Walker in 2013.

Roger Rodas’s widow Kristine had alleged in her wrongful death suit that several defects in the 2005 Porsche Carrera GT her husband was driving caused the fatal crash.

However, US District Judge Philip Gutierrez dismissed the claims on Monday, saying they were not supported by any evidence.

“Plaintiff has offered no competent evidence that Rodas’s death occurred as a result of any wrongdoing on the part of defendant,” Gutierrez wrote.

After the fiery crash – in which the Porsche slammed into trees and a lamp post on a street in Santa Clarita, a suburb north of Los Angeles – investigators concluded that Rodas had been driving at an unsafe speed and lost control of the car. 

But Kristine Rodas alleged in her lawsuit that the Porsche had a poor suspension and side impact protection, and that it had exploded into a fireball because it lacked a crash cage or a fuel cell.

Gutierrez rejected those claims, saying an autopsy had determined that Rodas’s fatal injuries were caused by blunt trauma, not fire.

The automaker, which has denied any wrongdoing in the rare car’s design, is facing two more lawsuits related to the crash filed by Walker’s daughter and father.

Paul Walker, who gained fame in the street-racing action franchise The Fast and the Furious, was on a break from filming the seventh installment when he died. – Rappler.com