Robert M.N. Palmer and William Petrus of the Law Offices of Robert M.N. Palmer, P.C. and Andrew Klein, Kullman, Klein & Dioneda, P.C., counsel  for Plaintiff, and Thomas J. Noonan, Law Offices of Thomas J. Noonan, P.C., counsel for Defendant Futrell and W. Russell Welsh, Polsinelli, White, Vardeman, and Shalton, counsel for Defendant Mazda Motor Corp.

On April 18, 1997, at approximately 10:55 p.m., plaintiff, Tracey Allen, driver, and her daughter Janelle Allen, the right front seat passenger, were traveling east on Page Street in the city of St. Louis, Missouri in Ms. Allen’s 1990 Mazda Protegé.  Defendant Harlan V. Futrell was operating his 1990 Mercury Sable in a westerly direction on Page Street.  Mr. Futrell attempted to make a left turn from Page Street onto Montclair Street heading south at which time his vehicle collided with the Mazda Protegé being operated by Ms. Allen. The occupant restraint systems provided for front seat passengers of the 1990 Mazda Protegé included a motorized, passive shoulder harness and a manual lap belt for each of the two front seat occupant positions.  Both Ms. Allen and her daughter were restrained by the motorized, passive shoulder harness but not the manual lap belt.  Tracey Allen made contact with the motorized, passive shoulder harness and was restrained by that shoulder harness in such a fashion as to concentrate the restraint or belt loads in the area of her chest, resulting in numerous and serious injuries to her chest and heart.  The shoulder belt without the lap belt was not able to restrain Janelle Allen, and she rolled over the passive shoulder harness and her body was allowed to travel forward until she struck her head on the dash of the Mazda Protegé, sustaining fatal injuries. 

Plaintiffs alleged that the restraint system in the 1990 Mazda Protegé was defective and unreasonably dangerous in that it failed to have an integrated lap belt.  This particular restraint system contains a motorized shoulder belt with a separately operated manual lap belt.  Plaintiffs further claimed that the 1990 Mazda was defective in that it did not provide an adequate warning to Ms. Allen and her daughter of the need to wear the manual lap belt. 

Medical expenses for Tracey Allen exceeded $250,000 and  medical and funeral expenses for Janelle Allen exceeded $13,000.00.

Case settled for a confidential amount on April 3, 2000.