Expert Advocacy

Los Angeles Judge Rules Against Car Owners in Defective Seatbelt Lawsuit

On Thursday, a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge ruled that a seatbelt manufactured by Takata Corp. of Japan was safe and met federal safety standards. The ruling ended a lawsuit brought by car owners who had claimed that the TK-52 seatbelt–installed in approximately 4 million cars in California–was improperly tested and subject to its’ buckle opening during collisions.

Lawyers for the car owners vowed to appeal.

None of the car owners claimed that any of the seatbelts were actually defective. Nor did they claim that they had been injured by the seatbelts. The allegation was that the seatbelt would fail in the future.

Other class-action lawsuits against Takata had been previously dismissed in other lawsuits.