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Kristine Rodas filed the suit this week against Porsche Cars North America, citing negligence as the cause of death of her husband and the 40-year-old "Fast and the Furious" star on November 30 in Santa Clarita, California. Backed by celebrity attorney Mark Geragos, she is also suing for product liability and wrongful death.
Roger Rodas, 38 at the time of his death, spent his competitive racing career driving Porsche cars.
The court documents filed by Kristine Rodas describe the 2005 Porsche Carrera GT that her husband was driving as a an "ultra-high-performance-super-sports car for the road," that goes from zero to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds and has a top speed of 205 miles per hour. The complaint argues that such a high-powered sports car should have a higher standard of crash protection, and that a mechanical malfunction forced Rodas to veer off the road.
Kristine Rodas filed the suit this week against Porsche Cars North America, citing negligence as the cause of death of her husband and the 40-year-old "Fast and the Furious" star on November 30 in Santa Clarita, California. Backed by celebrity attorney Mark Geragos, she is also suing for product liability and wrongful death.
Roger Rodas, 38 at the time of his death, spent his competitive racing career driving Porsche cars.
The court documents filed by Kristine Rodas describe the 2005 Porsche Carrera GT that her husband was driving as a an "ultra-high-performance-super-sports car for the road," that goes from zero to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds and has a top speed of 205 miles per hour. The complaint argues that such a high-powered sports car should have a higher standard of crash protection, and that a mechanical malfunction forced Rodas to veer off the road.
Geragos also hired investigators to evaluate wreckage at the scene, who determined that Rodas was driving 55 mph before the vehicle went out of control. This contradicts the Los Angeles County coroner's report that car was speeding at more than 100 mph, and the investigations by the Los Angeles County Sherriff's Office and California Highway Patrol that focused on speed
She's claiming she hired experts to investigate the crash and these experts say the car was traveling at no more than 55mph. They also claimed the car malfunctioned and also that it should not have burst into flames when it crashed.
I guess I can believe that they were only going 55ish. 55 doesn't seem that fast but that car wasn't designed to survive a collision. Maybe they were going 95 at one point, lost control, attempted to get it under control and it left the road at 55. As far as a malfunction in the vehicle...I don't think Porsche can be held responsible for that, they car was WAY out of warranty and it is the owner's responsibility to make sure its in good working order.
The Porsche Carrera GT is apparently a ridiculously hard car to drive fast. Watch the Top Gear episode where the stig could barely make it around the track with it, but when he did they recorded the fastest track time.
Its a shame they died way too young, but they both died doing exactly what they loved doing. I just hope they didn't feel too much pain.
Clear case on banking on a fat settlement, I don't see how this would pass a jury. But then a hot cup of coffee was worth a cool million. But hey here in Merica we always blame others for our own stupidity. Maybe I'm old fashioned but in my book if I do something stupid I'm the only one to blame and consequences for my actions are mine to pay as well. It's a sad thing two souls perished but it was their price for fullish play. This story would read totally different if they hit an innocent pedestrian or creamed into a mom with a bunch of kids in a minivan. With the money spent on the cars one would think they could afford and would have enough common sense to take it to a track or at least some other sanctioned/controlled venue.
I have another point of view. Something does not add up here. If it were some kid with limited driving experience, I would tend to agree that there was speeding involved and bad driving. But guys, we are talking about a very experienced Porsche race car driver. Why would he be so stupid and irresponsible to drive like a fool and loose control of a car that he knows like the back of his hand? It does not make sense. I will go against the grain here and side with the widow. Something must have happened to cause him to lose control and I don't believe it was speeding. Just my two cents.
I have another point of view. Something does not add up here. If it were some kid with limited driving experience, I would tend to agree that there was speeding involved and bad driving. But guys, we are talking about a very experienced Porsche race car driver. Why would he be so stupid and irresponsible to drive like a fool and loose control of a car that he knows like the back of his hand? It does not make sense. I will go against the grain here and side with the widow. Something must have happened to cause him to lose control and I don't believe it was speeding. Just my two cents.
Experienced, professional drivers push their cars to the limit and have accidents all the time.
I wasn't there, no eye witness to verify speed, 2 guys dead that can't speak or defend themselves, I reserve judgement. It reminds me a lot of peoples attitudes towards motorcycle wrecks. It's usually said the biker was doing something stupid and that is sometimes the case but not always.
Why pass judgement? Why care or blame what a grieving spouse does....
One reason is because someone asked, second is we all end up paying in one form or another. Be it more traffic laws, insurance rate even price you pay for merchandise when company tries to re-coupe their loss. . As I see it this is one of way too many frivolous law suits. If the true intent of the suite was to prevent another tragedy like this then the suit should have been directed toward the people that participated, promoted or otherwise encourages this illegal behavior. Instead it is directed at the deepest pockets for the purpose of obtaining a maximum payoff. When you play you need to be willing to pay, sometimes the price is very catastrophic. Only wish some people would grow up and accept the fact they are responsible for their actions.