Texas Jury Awards $99.6M in Rear-End Collision & Product Defect

On December 18, 2012, a plaintiff driver was transporting his two sons, including a 7-year-old plaintiff, in a 2005 Audi A4 on Highway 16 near San Antonio, Texas. The driver stopped for a school bus when a 2009 Chevrolet HHR, driven by a defendant driver, rear-ended their vehicle. The 7-year-old plaintiff, seated behind the driver, sustained a skull fracture.

A lawsuit was filed on the injured child's behalf, naming the striking driver for negligence and Audi AG and Volkswagen Group of America Inc., the vehicle's manufacturers and distributors, for products liability. The claims against the manufacturers included design defect, manufacturing defect, negligent failure to warn or instruct, and gross negligence. Plaintiffs contended the Audi's driver seat was defectively designed to collapse backward beyond 60 degrees in a rear-end collision, creating a known risk of the front-seat occupant colliding with a back-seat occupant. They argued the driver was thrown backward, and his head struck the child's head, causing the injuries. The manufacturers denied defects or negligence, asserted the seats met federal standards, and claimed neither the driver nor the child was wearing a seatbelt. The striking driver admitted causing the accident but contended the injuries were due to the vehicle's defects.

The 7-year-old plaintiff suffered a depressed skull fracture, leading to permanent severe brain damage, right-side paralysis, blindness, severe learning disabilities, bowel and bladder incontinence, and uncontrollable seizures. He underwent multiple operations and extensive medical treatment, with stipulated past and future medical costs exceeding $19 million.

After a four-week trial, the jury found design defect, manufacturing defect, and negligence in warning or instructing by Audi and Volkswagen. The jury also found negligence by the striking driver and the plaintiff driver. Comparative responsibility was assigned as 55 percent to Audi and Volkswagen, 25 percent to the striking driver, and 20 percent to the plaintiff driver. The jury additionally found Audi grossly negligent and awarded the injured plaintiff over $124 million. After reduction for comparative responsibility, the final recovery totaled approximately $99.6 million.