This week, news became public that the daughter of late action star Paul Walker is receiving a $10.1 million settlement from the estate of the man, Roger Rodas, who was driving the car when it crashed, killing both Walker and Rodas.

The settlement was decided in November of 2014, roughly a year after Walker’s death, but the information about it wasn’t made public until this week. According to court documents, $7.2 million of the money is in a trust for Meadow Walker, 17, the rest went toward legal fees. However that $10 million-plus settlement is just a “fraction of what her father would have earned as an international movie star had his life not been tragically cut short.”

USA Today reports that Rodas’s estate released the following statement:

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.

That lawsuit, brought by Meadow Walker’s lawyers against Porsche, is still ongoing. She is accusing the German-based carmaker of skimping on safety features that could have saved her father’s life.

Porsche claims that Walker’s death was Rodas’s fault for driving too quickly, particularly after an investigation conducted by Los Angeles police pointed to speed as the catalyst of the accident. Porsche has also alleged that the vehicle wasn’t properly operated or maintained. But Walker claims that the vehicle wasn’t going as fast as the investigation alleged; additionally Walker is arguing that had the Porsche been safer, her father wouldn’t have been severely burned after the crash–which ultimately led to his death. However it’s unclear if Walker’s lawsuit against Porsche will be successful–a similar lawsuit brought by Rodas’s widow ruled in favor of Porsche recently, stating: “Plaintiff has provided no competent evidence that Rodas’ death occurred as a result of any wrongdoing on the part of Defendant.”

For Meadow Walker, it’s all presumably bittersweet–while the money set aside in a trust for her will ensure that she has enough to live on, it’s certainly less than her father would have made had he not lost his life in the tragic 2013 crash, and can’t replace him.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Hey y’all!

Kristine Rodas’ suit against luxury car company Porsche had a major setback last week. Rodas, widow of Roger Rodas who was killed along with actor Paul Walker in a tragic car accident in November 2013 that involved a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT in Valencia, California

Back in May, Roger Rodas’ wife filed a lawsuit against Porsche citing negligence as the cause of death. Court documents describe the Porsche Carrera GT that her husband was driving as an “ultra-high-performance-super-sports car for the road,” that goes from zero to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds with a top speed of 205 miles per hour. The complaint argues that such a high-powered sports car should have a higher standard of crash protection, and that a mechanical malfunction forced Rodas to veer off the road. The lawsuit claims that a “properly functioning crash cage” would have prevented the deaths by preventing “intrusion into the passenger compartment,” damage to the fuel tank, and the splitting of the vehicle in half. A separate investigator was hired to evaluate the wreckage and claims that the car was only going 55 mph instead of the 100 mph that the LA County coroner, LA County Sheriff’s Department, and the California Highway Patrol all cited.

U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez dismissed four of the five grounds for the lawsuit, finding that the complaint did not include enough specifics. The case was not fully dismissed however, and lawyers are allowed to amend the lawsuit as filed.

It seems to me that if three separate investigations were done as soon as the incident happened and they all came to the same conclusion, the new investigation would not be warranted or even accurate. The California Highway Patrol as well as the LA County Sheriff’s Department also noted that there were no mechanical defects of the vehicle involved in the crash, but rather it was due to pure negligence on the driver’s part.

I understand that Rodas is grieving and she wants someone to pay for the death of her husband and Walker, but she is pointing the finger at the wrong people. A thorough investigation was conducted when the incident occurred and questions were answered. It’s hard to grasp the loss of a loved one but sometimes you have to realize that a life was lost because of a lifestyle. Roger Rodas chose a life of racing cars and was probably aware of the dangers involved on that path. I feel sorry for the Walker and Rodas families, but this lawsuit is dragging out the tragedy.

The day after Rodas’ legal setback, fellow Fast and the Furious franchise actor Vin Diesel posted a photo on Facebook of Paul Walker in the new FF 7 trailer. The movie is set to come out in April 2015 and I will absolutely be there standing in line hours before the midnight showing.

Allison Dawson

Allison Dawson was born in Germany and raised in Mississippi and Texas. A graduate of Texas Tech University and Arizona State University, she’s currently dedicating her life to studying for the LSAT. Twitter junkie. Conservative. Get in touch with Allison at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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