FIRM SUCCESSFUL AGAINST GM OVER BOY RENDERED PARAPLEGIC BY SEAT BELT
Topete v. GM
The law firm Ricci~Leopold, P.A. successfully fought General Motors on behalf of a 16-year-old boy who became a paraplegic from the lap belt he was wearing in a car crash.
Rene Topete was 16 years old when he was riding in the back seat of a car involved in a head-on collision. Rene was wearing a lap belt - the only type of belt available in the back seat of the car. Rene's cousin, riding in the front seat, was wearing her lap-shoulder belt and suffered only minor injuries.
In a crash, properly designed seat belts should prevent riders from being thrown from the car or crashing into objects in the car. Seat belts should also distribute the effects of the impact over a rider's shoulders, rib cage, pelvis and the other strong skeletal structures of the rider's body.
A lap-only belt, found in millions of older cars, can actually cause injuries. In a crash, lap-only belts can ride over the rider's pelvis and crush the spine, abdomen and other internal organs.
The firm successfully fought GM, for the boy needs full-time care for the rest of his life.
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