Mazda seatbelt lawsuit headed to U.S. Supreme Court
 

<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/government-legal/" rel="tag">Government/Legal</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/safety/" rel="tag">Safety</a></p><img vspace="4" hspace="0" border="1" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/05/supreme-court.jpg" /><br />
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The <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/06/08/breaking-supreme-court-stays-sales-of-chrysler-to-fiat/">U.S. Supreme Court</a> is set to rule on whether or not current federal regulations protect automakers from being sued under state product liability laws. According to <em>The Wall Street Journal,</em> justices will examine a California lawsuit that claims that <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/make/mazda/">Mazda</a> should be held responsible for the death of a passenger in a 1993 MPV minivan. The passenger was riding in the middle seat, wearing a lap belt, when an accident occurred. The belt caused serious internal injuries that eventually led to death. The plaintiff's argument is that by not installing three-point seatbelts in the center row of the vehicle, Mazda failed to do everything in its power to protect the occupants of the vehicle. <br />
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It's important to note that three-point seatbelts didn't become a legal requirement in all seating positions until 2007. Before that time, regulations established in 1989 said that three-point belts were only required in outboard seats, so Mazda built the MPV to conform to the laws in place when the vehicle was built and sold. <br />
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The lawsuit was originally rejected after Mazda pointed to a 2000 Supreme Court case in which Honda was unsuccessfully sued after injuries occurred in a 1987 <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/model/accord">Honda Accord</a>. In that case, the plaintiff said that Honda was responsible because it did not install airbags in the vehicle. <br />
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The Supreme Court will hear the case in the 2010-2011 term starting in October. <br />
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[Sources: <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100524-707389.html?mod=WSJ_lates theadlines">The Wall Street Journal</a>, <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-24/mazda-passenger-seatbelt-suit-gets-u-s-supreme-court-review.html">Bloomberg</a> | Image: Chip Somodevilla/Getty]<p style="padding:5px;backgr ound:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/05/25/mazda-seatbelt-lawsuit-headed-to-u-s-supreme-court/">Mazda seatbelt lawsuit headed to U.S. Supreme Court</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblo g</a> on Tue, 25 May 2010 16:01:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/05/25/mazda-seatbelt-lawsuit-headed-to-u-s-supreme-court/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/19490305/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/05/25/mazda-seatbelt-lawsuit-headed-to-u-s-supreme-court/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>

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