Meadow Walker, 17-year-old daughter of the late actor Paul Walker, has been awarded a huge payout from the estate of Roger Rodas, the driver in his fatal 2013 crash.
The teenager has received a settlement of $US10.1 million, which is roughly $AUD13.5 million; the settlement was reached in late 2014, but was filed under ‘Meadow W’ and only came to light this week.
Walker was a passenger in a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT, which Rodas was driving at speeds of up to 150km/h when it crashed into trees and a power pole in Santa Clarita in 2013.
Rodas was found to be partially responsible for the crash, and as such, the payout was a “fraction of what [Meadow’s] father would have earned as an international movie star had his life not been tragically cut short.”
The money is currently being held in a trust for the teenager.
Meadow Walker is currently pursuing a lawsuit against Porsche AG, and her lawyer says she “intends to hold the company responsible for producing a vehicle that was defective and caused Paul Walker’s death.”
Porsche maintain that they have no responsibility in Walker’s death, while a Los Angeles police investigation determined that the 2013 crash was caused by excessive speed and not by any mechanical failure in the vehicle.
Rodas’ estate have already attempted to sue Porsche, but this week, a federal judge ruled in the auto-maker’s favour, holding that the plaintiffs had failed to bring any “competent evidence” showing the car was defective.
Source: News Corp.
Photo: NBC / Getty.
