Porsche sued over Paul Walker crash

The widow of the man who was driving a Porsche sports car that crashed and killed Fast & Furious actor Paul Walker sued the automaker on May 12, claiming design flaws caused both men to die in a fiery crash in November last year.

The wrongful death lawsuit by Kristine M Rodas says her husband was driving at 55 mph (88.5 kph) — not at unsafe speeds as law enforcement investigators determined before it crashed last year. Roger W Rodas was driving a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT capable of speeds more than 200 mph (320 kph), but his wife’s lawsuit says the vehicle lacked a proper crash cage and safety features in the gas tank that would have saved both men’s lives.

The lawsuit also contends that a failure in the car’s suspension system forced it to careen out of control and strike three trees while driving in California.

“The Carrera GT was unsafe for its intended use by reason of defects in its manufacture, design, testing, component and constituents, so that it would not safely serve its purpose,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit seeks unspec ified damages from Porsche Cars North America, which did not immediately return email messages seeking comment. An official investigation was released in March and concluded that it was unsafe speed and not mechanical problems that caused the crash.