$247 Million Lawsuit Against Manufacturer of “Defective” Seatbelt Fails

California car owners who claimed that a seatbelt installed in about four million cars in their state was improperly tested and might fail to protect them in a crash have lost their $247-million lawsuit against the manufacturer.

The seatbelt, called the TK-52 and made by Takata Corp., meets established federal standards for the devices and is not unsafe, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis held in a preliminary ruling. A final ruling from the judge is expected in March 2009, and the attorney for the car owners said he plans to appeal if the judge’s preliminary ruling is made final.

Car owner Lupe Zavala, who was the lead plaintiff in the class-action suit, and the owners of about 80 different car models which carried the TK-52 seatbelt had sued Takata, claiming that the company misled consumers about the testing and safety of its seatbelts.

While no injuries have been linked to the alleged defect in the seatbelt, the car owners argued that serious injuries could result in the future if problems were not addressed. The owners claimed the latch on the buckle of the seatbelt might pop open in a crash, causing severe injuries to passengers. They were seeking millions in financial damages and an order that the seatbelt model be recalled and retested to ensure it is safe.

The suit also named as a defendant SGS U.S. Testing Co., Inc., a consumer testing organization based in New Jersey.

Car owners in Arizona, New Mexico, Tennessee, and Texas had filed similar class-action suits against Takata, but those suits have also been previously dismissed, attorneys said.

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