A Pennsylvania jury awarded $10.2 million to a teenager who was paralyzed in a drunken driving crash while wearing a lap belt in the backseat.
The belt tore into Chelsea Pursell’s abdomen, fracturing her spinal cord and causing internal injuries after the car hit a utility pole on May 28, 2004.
The verdict assigned 51 percent of the liability to the driver; 39 percent to the car’s maker, Volkswagen; and 10 percent to PPL, which owns the utility pole.
David Richman, an attorney who represented Volkswagen, said the company plans to appeal.
Pursell’s attorney, Peter Hileman, acknowledged the award could be reduced on appeal.
The driver, Kristofer Young, pleaded guilty to driving under the influence.
Volkswagen brought PPL into the case when the company alleged that PPL’s utility pole had been placed too close to the road.
Pursell’s attorneys already had settled with PPL, so the utility cannot be held to pay that $1 million share of the verdict, Hileman said.
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