Washington - The Supreme Court will let Mazda be sued in California courts in case involving a woman who died while wearing a seat belt across her lap in her family’s minivan. The high court in a unanimous judgment Wednesday agreed to let the lawsuit go forward, despite complaints from the car company that federal regulators gave it an option on whether to install lap belts or lap-and-shoulder belts in the middle seats in the back of the van.
Thanh Williamson’s family wants to sue Mazda Motor of America Inc. because it made its 1993 Mazda MPV minivan with only lap seat belts in the middle seat of the van’s second row. Williamson, who was from Utah, died in a 2002 accident; her family says her body jackknifed around the lap belt causing fatal internal injuries.
Federal regulations require lap-and-shoulder belts for the front seats and the rear outer seats but give companies an option on the rear middle or aisle seats. The Williamsons want a court to say that Mazda was negligent for not putting the lap-and-shoulder belts on the inner seats on its own.
But Mazda said it is immune from lawsuits because the federal government in 1989 gave it a choice of installing either lap or lap-and-shoulder seat belts in the middle rear seat. A lawsuit forcing them to use lap-and-shoulder belts, the company said, would invalidate the choice being offered by the regulation.
Four decades ago, voters in Seattle narrowly turned down a rapid-transit plan in the 1970 election, prompting the federal government to shift $900 million in rail funds to Atlanta, to launch its MARTA network.
This time, it's Washington state that hankers to spend rail money earmarked for the South.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday decided to reject $2.4 billion in federal stimulus aid for an Orlando-to-Tampa rail route. He cited the "potential for significant capital and operating cost overruns." Scott went on to list several port and freeway improvements he believes would bring more benefit.
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