$8 Million Verdict Against Hundai Announced by Stritmatter Kessler Whelan Withey & Collucio.

Business Editors, Legal Writers

Jesse Magana was always doing a good deed for someone.

On February 15, 1997, he had agreed to help acquaintances fix their car. On the way back from the auto parts store, there was a terrible accident. A pickup truck swerved in front of the 1996 Hyundai Accent in which he was a passenger.

Their car swerved off the road, hit a tree, and spun into another tree. The airbags pushed Jesse Magana back into his car seat causing the seatback to snap. The broken seatback made his seatbelts worthless. He was catapulted out of the car and thrown into a nearby field. His spine was broken leaving him paralyzed from the chest down.

The driver walked away from the accident. Experts at the trial stated that the seatback wasn't sturdy enough to withstand the force of the airbag coupled with Magana's 200-pound frame. Attorney Peter O'Neil, from the Seattle law firm Stritmatter Kessler Whelan Withey & Collucio, contends that a stronger seat would have kept Magana in the car. During the trial, attorneys for Hyundai told jurors that 23 out of 24 times, people who wear seat belts are not ejected during crashes. But O'Neil argued that "had the seatback been adequately built to hold an average, 200 pound man, he may have walked away just as the driver did." Hyundai also claimed that Magana was not seated in the front passenger seat, a claim jurors rejected.

Jurors in Vancouver, Washington agreed with O'Neil's argument that Hyundai's design flaw had more to do with Magana's injuries than the car's negligent driver. They awarded Magana more than $8 million dollars, finding Hyundai 60% responsible for the injuries. Hyundai (a Korean company with U.S. headquarters in Fountain Valley, California) is required to pay the full verdict amount. They may attempt to recoup a percentage of the money from the negligent driver.

Attorney Paul Whelan, renowned for representing victims injured or killed due to auto defects, hopes that verdicts of this magnitude send a wake-up call to auto manufacturers. "Seat backs that do not compensate for crashes that involve 200 pound men are inadequate." Whelan continued, "I am gratified by this verdict, because Jesse Magana will need help with everyday living for the rest of his life."

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