In 2007 the Goodner family was planning a new life as patriarch, Stu Goodner, had a job at Focus on the Family ready and waiting for him in Colorado. The road ahead, from their home in Texas to their new one, stretched before them filled with new expectations.
Stu's eldest daughter, Sarah, enrolled for classes at Pikes Peak Community College in Colorado, so she had joined Stu first. Stu's wife Lisa stayed back in Texas with younger daughters Rebekah and Hannah, so that the children could finish out their school semester and Lisa could sell their home.
Sarah missed her sisters and friends so she decided to drive back to Texas for a visit. She chose a weekend that would coincide with one of Hannah's softball tournaments. It was during the course of that weekend that the lives of the Goodner family changed irrevocably.
The tournament was to be held in San Angelo, an additional 5-hour trip from the Dallas home. Rebekah, then 16, shared the long driving time with Sarah in Sarah's 2005 Hyundai Tucson.
Unfortunately Rebekah fell asleep while it was her turn at the wheel. Sarah, napping in the passenger seat and taking advantage of the seat's reclining feature, woke up when she instinctively felt the car veer onto the side of the road. She woke Rebekah immediately.
It was too late, as Rebekah overcorrected the car it flipped several times. When the car finally stopped, Sarah was no longer in it - only Rebekah remained. Frantically searching for her older sister, Rebekah found that Sarah had been ejected from the Hyundai and was thrown out the back window/hatchback door.
The Hyundai's seatbelt had failed to hold Sarah down and both the front and side airbags did not deploy.
And Sarah herself? With no outward signs of injury, she remained conscious and was able to speak to the first medical responders. It was during the transportation to a hospital in San Angelo that her vital signs went flat. A head injury had killed her.
Instead of planning a future for their entire family in a new home, the Goodners were left trying to understand the death of one child while their other child, in the same car, had a her life spared by a working seatbelt.
Then a well-meaning friend, that worked in a car dealership, told the Goodners that "the car industry had been telling automobile manufacturers that the seatbelts were unsafe and wanted them changed." That same friend contacted a lawyer on their behalf.
The trial consisted of research and proving foreseeable harm in the seatbelt design. Hyundai countered that their safety manuals clearly state that you are not to recline while the car is moving. Goodner, in concern for all, sought to prove that anyone on any kind of road trip at any time will recline in a seat to rest, trusting the seatbelt to do it's job.
Even though Hyundai was successful in preventing a letter from the Chairman of the National Safety Board to the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regarding safety concern being read at trial, the jury came back with a 1.8 million settlement from Hyundai, as reported by the Colorado Tribune and Fox 31.
If you or a loved one has suffered an injury or wrongful death due to a defective product, you may have grounds to file a lawsuit. Click here to find a personal injury attorney to learn more about your legal rights and options.