Wylie Jury Awards $13,478,106 in Infant Safety Seat Injury

In December 2013, a 10-week-old infant was severely injured in a two-vehicle collision in Wylie. The infant was a passenger in a compact car driven by a third party, attempting a left turn at an intersection, when it was struck by an oncoming sedan. Police concluded the turning driver failed to yield the right of way. The infant sustained a skull fracture and severe brain injury, later requiring a permanent shunt. The child's parents, acting on their son's behalf, initially sued the driver of the oncoming sedan for negligence. They later added the manufacturer of the child safety seat, Graco Children's Products Inc., and the manufacturer of an aftermarket insert, Summer Infant (USA) Inc., as defendants, alleging design defect and misrepresentation, respectively.

The parents claimed the driver of their vehicle had a green left-turn arrow and that the oncoming sedan's driver was at fault. Regarding the injury, they argued the Summer Infant insert elevated the infant's head, effectively reducing the protective height of the Graco child seat's side wings. They alleged the insert was not adequately crash-tested, and Summer Infant's advertising was misleading. They also asserted that their child had outgrown the insert and that current safety guidelines generally discourage the use of such aftermarket products. Both Summer Infant and the sedan driver contended that the turning vehicle's driver was primarily at fault for the accident, with the sedan driver designating her as a responsible third party. Summer Infant denied the insert caused or contributed to the injuries, attributing them instead to the collision's severity and the child seat's low side wings, which their expert also noted as a potential issue. Graco Children's Products Inc. settled for a confidential amount before trial.

The jury heard arguments that the minor would require lifelong care, with estimated future expenses ranging from $13 million to $21 million. The parents requested approximately $40 million in total damages, including compensation for past and future medical expenses, pain, mental anguish, loss of earning capacity, and physical impairment for the minor, as well as mental anguish for the mother. Summer Infant disputed that the injury was unapportionable among responsible parties.

The trial proceeded against Summer Infant and the driver of the oncoming sedan. The jury found no negligence against the sedan driver. It assigned comparative responsibility of 51 percent to the turning driver for negligence, 47 percent to Graco for design defect, and 2 percent to Summer Infant for misrepresentation. The jury initially found no misrepresentation by Summer Infant, but after judicial instruction to continue deliberations due to a conflict with its comparative responsibility finding, it changed its answer to "yes." The minor plaintiff was awarded $13,478,106.19. This amount was reduced to $269,562.12 based on the comparative responsibility findings and further lowered by settlement credits. The mother received no damages for her bystander claim. The jury found that the minor's injury was capable of being apportioned among the responsible parties.