Couple wins R3.5bn for faulty seats

DALLAS: A Texas jury has awarded more than $242 million (R3.5 billion) to a Dallas-area family who sued Toyota over what they said were defective front seats in their Lexus sedan.

Benjamin and Kristi Reavis alleged defects caused their front seat backs in a September 2016 rear-end collision to collapse on their children seated in child safety seats in the back.

Their attorney said the 5-year-old daughter and 3-yearold son suffered severe head trauma and other injuries.

The Reavises’ attorney, Frank Branson, said Toyota consciously chose to protect front-seat occupants from crash injuries such as whiplash at the expense of rear-seat passengers.

The Dallas County jury determined on Friday that the seats were unreasonably dangerous and Toyota failed to warn of those dangers.

In a statement, Toyota said it sympathised with the Reavises and respected the jury’s decision, but believed the injuries resulted from factors specific to the collision, not defects.

No decision has been made on an appeal. – Ap/african News Agency (ANA)