Family Says Defective Seat Belt Caused Woman's Death

According to police, Sandra Dozier died of the personal injuries she sustained when the 1998 Pontiac Grand Prix she was driving overturned after she lost control east of Tyler, Texas. However, the family says that, despite what the police report said, she was properly wearing her seat belt.

According to court papers, her family alleges that the fatal injuries she suffered were the result of a seat belt system that was unreasonably dangerous and “not reasonably crashworthy.”

On January 6, James Dozier, both individually and on behalf of the estate of Sandra Dozier, Dozier’s children Clint Bryant and Kimberly Tabb, and Dozier’s mother Ann Anderson, filed a product liability suit against TRW Safety Systems Inc. in the Marshall Division of the Eastern District of Texas.

According to the suit, Dozier was properly wearing her seat belt. The suit cites evidence of that usage includes stains below the stow point on the belt, glass particles found in the webbing, and markings by the d-ring.

The suit claims that the seat belt restraint system was defective because the buckle failed to provide adequate restraint throughout the entire crash. The suit claims the buckle was in violation of federal regulations and crashworthiness principles and failed to meet the internal specifications of General Motors. 

The suit claims damages for the medical, funeral, and burial expenses, disfigurement, physical and emotional pain, torment, emotional distress, and mental anguish of the deceased victim.

The family also claims damages for lost care, maintenance, support, services, advice, counsel, reasonable contributions of a pecuniary value, companionship, society, consortium, emotional distress, and mental anguish.

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