One of the more popular stories of the week has to be the daughter of the late Paul Walker, Meadow Walker, filing a lawsuit against Porsche, involving the Carrera GT and wrongful death. Although, I sympathize with the family and friends of the star of the Fast and Furious series, how is any of this Porsche’s fault? I guess the better question is…if my aunt died from complications of heavy tobacco use, is Marlboro Cigarettes at fault?
There are many factors that could contribute to the wreck such as the age and condition of that specific vehicle (a near ten year old vehicle) and conspiracy theories like my old co-worker suggested. That could be another post, so I’ll save those and try to remain factual.
In my opinion, the Carrera GT is a very fine piece of machinery, but let’s face the facts. The man who was driving the Carrera GT that killed Paul Walker, Roger Rodas, was supposedly speeding in a reportedly unruly car. To be honest, the car could have been wrapped tighter than precious cargo, with extra bubble wrap to boot, and the same result would have potentially occured. That actually leads to another point. Speed kills.
This old cataclysm, “speed kills” is true. Reports estimated that the Carrera GT was running near 100mph while other reports state that the car was travelling between 40 and 60 mph. With that being said, a wreck at 45 mph, which was the speed limit on the road the men were travelling, is bad enough in a SUV, considering the pictures from when I wrecked my Jeep. So a lightweight, monstrously powerful supercar that was built in 2005, probably would look and be way worse.
The lawyers claim that the Carrera GT lacked adequate safety features as well as adequate materials. They also claim that had the car had these safety features (stability control) and better material, Paul Walker and company would have survived the wreck. That’s a pretty bold statement. Race cars, more specifically F1 cars, dating back to 2005 had limited safety features and probably used primarily carbon-fibre which if I remember correctly, is the material used on the Carrera GT and modern supercars.
Let’s just speak in hypotheticals before I end this post. Let’s just say the subject car was a Volvo S80 and same events took place, meaning speeding and the loss of two lives. Would that mean Volvo is too blame even though Volvo are one of the safest cars on the road? No. Volvo didn’t cause the wreck and the same goes for Porsche. Even with all of the safety equipment and materials being the best and strongest, the same thing could have happened. This is just a case of a money hungry lawyer preying, on a 16 year girl who just lost her father.
At the end of the day, Paul Walker may have wanted to go out in one of his favorite rides while, still at the top of his game, acting wise. Whether it was a Carrera GT or a Skyline R34, I think Paul Walker is resting just fine. Meadow is being victimized by lawyers seeing a payday, and it’s sad but should Porsche catch the blame, the lawyers will profit off of the misfortune of a young girl losing her father, and that is just business. Still, Porsche shouldn’t be guilty and I think we should let Paul rest I’m peace, like the millions of hashtags said.
Comments?