GM Wins Lawsuit Over Alleged Defective Chevy Truck Seat Belt Design

A plaintiff suffered serious injuries after a Chevy truck she was riding in crashed, but after five years in court, her $73M lawsuit has ended.

Back in 2018, Allie Mead was riding in the rear center seat of a 1998 Chevy truck when it crashed into a tree and boulder, causing her to suffer serious injuries. Some time later, Mead sued GM, claiming that the two-point lap seat belt she was wearing had a “negligent and improper design” that’s unreasonably dangerous, adding that if the Chevy truck had a three-point design that covers the chest and shoulders, her injuries wouldn’t have occurred.

Now, roughly five years after it was filed, a jury has ruled in favor of GM in this particular case, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Since the beginning, GM has argued that the 1988 model year Chevy truck in question met or exceeded all federal safety standards when it was built and sold, and at that time, those standards did not require a three-point seat belt in the rear center portion of the seat.

GM noted that seat belts are intended to redistribute energy, preventing a vehicle’s occupant from being thrown forward – potentially ejecting them from the vehicle. It added that in this case, the seat belt did precisely that, and just because the plaintiff was injured doesn’t mean that the seat belt is negligent – rather, it did precisely what it was designed to do in this case, reducing the plaintiff’s risk of injury or death.

Regardless, GM was still facing a potential $73 million dollar payout in this case, largely due to the fact that it was in the hands of a jury. We’ve seen on more than one occasion where an automaker has been ordered to pay out big bucks to plaintiffs over vehicle designs that met federal safety standards when they were produced and sold, so things could have very well gone in that direction here as well.

“I’m shocked,” said Mead’s attorney, Robert Eglet. “We clearly proved that the product was defective, and we clearly proved that they didn’t warn her of the dangers. The lap-only belt snapped her forward like closing a jack knife. The belt that was supposed to protect her became the weapon that destroyed her.”

Photos: Chevrolet

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Brett Foote

Brett Foote has been covering the automotive industry for over five years and is a longtime contributor to Internet Brands’ Auto Group sites, including Chevrolet Forum, Rennlist, and Ford Truck Enthusiasts, among other popular sites.

He has been an automotive enthusiast since the day he came into this world and rode home from the hospital in a first-gen Mustang, and he's been wrenching on them nearly as long.

In addition to his expertise writing about cars, trucks, motorcycles, and every other type of automobile, Brett had spent several years running parts for local auto dealerships.

You can follow along with his builds and various automotive shenanigans on Instagram: @bfoote.