01/26/08 (TX):
Expert Grilled In Seatbelt Trial
|
|
Jenny Singley died from injuries suffered in a March 2005 car wreck in Harker Heights, TX. In the resultant civil suit brought by her family, much of the plaintiffs' case relies heavily on expert testimony that a design flaw in the seatbelt of Jenny's car led to her death.
During the hearing at 146th District Court, expert Bill Muzzy faced more than five hours of stiff cross-examination from defense attorney Jack Little, representing TRW Vehicle Safety Systems, the manufacturer of the seatbelt for the GM-built Saturn L300.
The defense began by questioning Muzzy's credibility as an expert witness, highlighting a supposed lack of qualifications, irrelevant experience and questionable motives.
Muzzy theorized that a part of the seatbelt that is supposed to catch the belt's fabric webbing and lock it into place contains a design flaw.
In a high-speed collision, that mechanism often leaves a long strip on the webbing referred to as plastic transfer. When the seatbelt mechanism, called the retractor, grips the webbing, the speed of the belt moving through the plastic is so great that it melts the plastic clamping down on it. This all happens in a period of time measured in milliseconds.
The transfer patterns on Jenny Singley's belt, Muzzy testified, showed little transfer residue, unlike the seatbelt on the passenger side, which functioned correctly during the accident, saving the life of Singley's 14-year-old son.
During vigorous cross examination the expert conceded that he had changed his view over time about the cause of the seat belt failure, but refused to accept that this change was brought about by the defense experts' reports.
Later opposing expert testimony came from former TRW employee Gregory Miller who stated that the belt was designed to release into an airbag during an accident and it functioned properly in the crash that led to her death. Miller went onto say that Bill Muzzy was wrong when he said the webbing of the belt spooled completely out during Mrs. Singley's accident.
© X-Pro 2008
|
|
