Florida Product Liability Action Surrounding Quadriplegia, Death Allegedly Linked To Takata Airbag Settles
On June 15, 2014, Patricia Mincey was driving her 2001 Honda Civic when she was involved in a minor collision. Her vehicle airbag, manufactured by defendants Takata Corporation and TK Holdings, Inc., allegedly failed to perform properly, deploying late and with the inflator exploding due to excessive pressurization. On June 19, 2014, plaintiff's vehicle was recalled due to the defect in the airbag. As a result of the collision/air bag explosion, Mincey sustained injuries rendering her a quadriplegic until her death from such injuries on April 11, 2016.
On Jan. 21, 2015, plaintiff Plaintiff Patricia Mincey, by and through Kelly Sims, her attorney in-fact, filed a complaint against the Takata defendants, Honda Motor Co., Inc., and related Honda defendants, and Duval Motors of Jacksonville, LLC, in the Circuit Court of Duval County, Florida, asserting claims of product liability, negligence, and fraudulent concealment. The action was assigned to Judge James H. Daniel. Plaintiff claimed that the Takata defendants first learned of the exploding airbag problem in 2001 and that Honda learned of the problem in 2004 but failed to issue proper recalls or adequately notify the public or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as required under the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation Act under 49 C.F.R. Section 579.21. Plaintiff claimed that Duval Motors negligently installed the airbag inflator in 2009 following a different recall. Defendants argued that plaintiffs' injuries were caused by the fact that she was speeding through a red light at 70 miles per hour when she crashed into an SUV. The Honda defendants settled and were dismissed from the action on Feb. 10, 2016. On July 15, 2016, the Takata defendants settled the claims against them.
According to Law360, “potentially deadly Takata air bag inflators — which have been linked to as many as 14 deaths worldwide — prompted the largest recall in U.S. history this past spring, when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration added 40 million more units, more than doubling the recall's scope… As automakers grapple with the mounting recalls, multidistrict litigation over the air bag inflators continues in Florida against Takata.”
Plaintiff was represented by Theodore J. Leopold and Diana L. Martin of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC. Takata was represented by W.L. Kirk, Michael D. Begey and Lena Mirilovic of Rumberger Kirk & Caldwell PA and Benjamin R. Barnett of Dechert LLP.
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