Minivan’s Third Row Seat Defect Linked to Virginia Accident

As a Virginia personal injury attorney and family guy with a minivan, I read with interest about a recent products liability lawsuit against an automaker. Driving down Route 5 in James City County, a stationary minivan was struck from behind by another vehicle thrusting a 13-year-old girl, sitting in the third row of the minivan, into the roof paralyzing her. Air lifted to VCU Medical Center, the girl was admitted to the Neuro-science Intensive Care Unit. The girl underwent a vertebrectomy and cervical fusion was then transferred to the Children’s Hospital for rehabilitation.   

The parents of the 13-year-old girl complained that the design of the minivan was unsafe. When the floor buckled at the time of the collision, the girl, propelled into the ceiling of the minivan, became paralyzed and suffered cervical fractures. The vehicle contained no warning about the consequences the third row seats would have in the event of an accident. The parents claim they would not have bought the van had they seen a warning or would have seated their child in a different seat. However, the minivan manufacturers stated that the vehicle met the safety standards, and the collision the family had been in was severe.

A settlement was made in regards to the injuries in the accident, which included a spinal cord injury with incomplete quadriplegia with medical bills totaling $668,940. We congratulate the Plaintiff’s attorneys : C. Tab Turner, Michael Imprevento, and John Shea for a good job on the case

MC