Autoliv of Japan has decided to abandon its appeal of the court order that found its seatbelt defective in the Andrews v. Autoliv case. As a result, the company has paid $56 million to settle the case, which originally resulted in a $127 million bench verdict on January 3, 2022. The settlement was finalized on Thursday, July 27, 2023.
The lawsuit arose from an accident on April 12, 2013, when Micah Andrews was driving home from work at the Georgia Aquarium. He was involved in a collision, and the seatbelt manufactured by Autoliv failed to properly restrain him, resulting in fatal injuries. His wife, Jamie Andrews, filed the case as the surviving spouse and administrator of the estate, seeking justice for her husband’s death.
During the trial, the plaintiff’s legal team, consisting of Tedra Cannella of Cannella Snyder LLC, Jim Butler of Butler Prather, LLP, and Rory Weeks of Weeks Law LLC, presented evidence that the seatbelt was designed with excessive and unsafe “spool out,” preventing it from effectively protecting vehicle occupants. Autoliv’s corporate representative, David Prentkowski, admitted that the company had foreseen the spool out issue in crash tests but failed to take action to prevent catastrophic consequences.
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