A young woman was driving home to Colorado from Utah when, for unknown reasons, she lost control and went off the road and her car rolled over. The roof and other structures held up fairly well, but the young woman sustained catastrophic injuries including a  high spine fracture leaving her quadriplegic and needing to use a ventilator to breathe during part of her day.

The investigation determined that the seat belt was defective. The seat belt defect, called “skip locking,” prevented the seat belt from locking properly and holding the woman in her seat. Instead, the seat belt failed to lock quickly, allowing several inches of the seat belt webbing to spool out and allowing the woman to hit her head at the top of the windshield causing her broken neck.

After a four week trial in the Denver District Court, the jury agreed with the Plaintiff’s case and found that the seat belt was indeed defective and caused the woman’s permanent  injuries. The jury, after hearing evidence of the extensive medical treatment which had taken place and was also needed in the future, awarded a $17.5 million dollar verdict.