Paul Walker’s daughter wins $10.1 million settlement

• Posted on April 12, 2016
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Paul Walker’s daughter, Meadow, has been awarded more than $10.1 million in a settlement over his death in a car crash in 2013.

On Saturday, TMZ reported Walker’s only daughter had received a settlement in 2014 from the estate of Roger Rodas, a friend of her father’s and the driver of the car at the time of the accident. The settlement has only been made public now.

Rodas was also killed in the crash, when the Porsche Carrera GT they were traveling in crashed into a tree and burst into flames in Santa Clarita, California, on Dec. 1, 2013.

Jeff Milam, the lawyer for 17-year-old Meadow, said the settlement of $10.1 million was due to Rodas being partly responsible for the crash. Court papers state, according to the entertainment site, this was even though Rodas was “not directing the car through any particularly unsafe maneuvers when it went out of control.”

In a statement obtained by E! News, Milam said the settlement only covers a small part of what Walker, 40, would have earned as a movie star during his life. At the time of his death, Walker was filming the seventh installment of the Fast and Furious franchise, Furious 7, which is one of the highest grossing movies in history, bringing in $1.5 billion globally.

“The amount paid by the estate of Roger Rodas into a trust for Meadow Walker only covers a fraction of what her father would have earned as an international movie star had his life not tragically been cut short,” the statement read. Milam’s firm has been contacted for comment byMashable.

Milam also made it clear that Meadow would continue pursuing Porsche in a wrongful death lawsuit against the carmaker which she launched last September. Milam said he intends to prove the car was defective and led to Walker’s death.

“Through his estate, Mr. Rodas, the driver of the car, took partial responsibility for the crash. Meadow’s lawsuit against Porsche AG — a $13 billion corporation — intends to hold the company responsibly for producing a vehicle that was defective and caused Paul Walker’s death.”

Rodas’ widow, Kristine Rodas, lost a similar court case on Monday, in which she claimed her husband was killed due to the Porsche Carrera GT missing several safety features. The judge ruled there was not enough evidence to support the claims.

Meadow Walker’s attorney said in a statement that while Rodas was killed instantly in the crash, Walker was still alive when the car caught fire.

“Meadow will continue the fight to hold Porsche accountable for selling a defective product that kills,” Milam wrote.

Porsche has denied wrongdoing in the design, manufacture or marketing of the Carrera GT. The company also contended in the lawsuit by Walker’s daughter that the car had been altered and improperly maintained and that those factors contributed to the crash.



-Mashable