And you'll notice that in the original case the Plaintiff had tried to sue
for the nine year old, who HAD NOT been wearing a seatbelt at all!

How is that VWs fault?

On 1/28/06, mark drillock <drillock@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> Any breakage of the rear bench seat belt was most likely due to damage
> that occurred to it before the accident. I have seen plenty of them that
> have been repeatedly caught up in the bench mechanism with numerous cuts
> to prove it. Others I have seen were clearly exposed to abrasions and
> chemicals from items stored under the bench.
>
> You may be able to argue that the ease with which the seat belts get
> damaged is itself a defect but it is not a weakness of the belt itself
> IMHO. At some point the owner bears some responsibility to replace
> damaged belts and avoid future damage.
>
> I have also seen plenty of front seat shoulder belts with damage from
> gnawing, presumably by pets left in the vehicle while the owner shopped
> or something.
>
> Mark
>
> Geza Polony wrote:
>
> >No, but it's worth doing...
> >
> >I mis-titled this when I put it on yesterday. It's a lawsuit brought
> against
> >VW of America by accident victims in Maine about 10 years ago, in which a
> >Vanagon spun out on black ice, killed and maimed their kids because, as
> they
> >claimed, the seat belts BROKE during the accident! The evidence was
> >disallowed in court because the Vanagon had already gone to the wreckers,
> >and because of this VW won both the original case and an appeal. Here's
> the
> >case:
> >
> >http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/getopn.pl?OPINION=98-1812.01A
> >
> >Personally, I believe the testimony of the plaintiffs, even though I can
> see
> >why the evidence was thrown out.
> >
> >Conclusion: OEM seatbelts are inadequate, especially in the rear, because
> >they don't include shoulder belts and because THEY BREAK on serious
> impact.
> >
> >Sobering thought. Now back to something more fun.
> >
> >
> >Geza
> >
> >
> >
> >
>

--
Jake
1984 Vanagon GL
1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
www.crescentbeachguitar.com