Honda Vs Norman

There are many lawsuits that take place within our society. Behind every lawsuit one must ask who is liable, and if they were negligent in any way. Many of these lawsuits seem to be frivolous, which means not having any serious purpose or value. For example the case,
Honda of America Manufacturing Inc vs. Norman. This case began in 1992 when 23 year old Karen Norman accidentally backed her car into Galveston Bay with a passenger, Josel Woods. Unfortunately, in the incident Norman had drowned. The passenger ( Woods) however, who was not wearing a seatbelt, managed to crawl out of the car window and get to shore. Woods testified that when she reached back into the sinking car to get her purse, she heard Karen say “ Help me. I can't …show more content…
a dive team had located Karen’s car. They had discovered that all of the windows were rolled up, including the one Woods had testified she escaped through, and all of the doors were closed as well. Karen's body was found in the backseat. After an autopsy it was discovered that Karen's blood-alcohol level was .17. At the time the blood-alcohol legal limit was .10. Karen’s 1991 Honda Civic was equipped with a two point passive restraint system, which is an automatic seatbelt that was mechanically drawn up over the shoulder when the door was closed, fastening by itself without any help of the passenger. The shoulder belt on both front seats was attached to a mouse that ran along a rail above the door. When the door was closed the mouse moved from the front of the car, along the length of the door and then part way down a pillar between the back and front doors. This pulled the belt over the drivers shoulder. The car also contained a manual lap belt. However, the seat belts emergency locking mechanism would turn on if the car experienced rapid deceleration or substantial tilting. This would prevent the spooling of the belt and hold the person in their seat, which explains why she was unable to get out. Honda argues that the Normans failed to meet their threshold statutory burden because they failed to prove there was a safer alternative design to the Honda's seat belt restraint

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