Robert M.N. Palmer, The Law Offices of Robert M.N. Palmer, P.C. for Plaintiff; and W. Russell Welsh, Polsinelli, White, Vardeman & Shalton for Defendant Mazda Motor Corporation.

On September 14, 1994, Eiko Ito Meyer was the front seat passenger of a 1994 Mazda Protégé, equipped with a motorized automatic shoulder harness and separate manual lap belt. She was wearing the passive shoulder harness, but the manual lap belt was not engaged. The driver of the Protégé lost control of the vehicle while it was traveling at 30 mph, claiming he had passed out. The Protégé impacted a utility pole. In the impact, both Mrs. Meyer's head and pelvis were propelled forward while her torso remained restrained. This configuration produced a flexion injury to Ms. Meyer's spine, rendering her a high paraplegic.

Plaintiff sued Mazda Motor Corporation on the theory that the restraint system was defectively designed in that it did not have an integrated passive lap belt with the passive shoulder harness, thereby exposing occupants to the dangers of a crash without the benefit of a lap belt. According to Plaintiff's experts, if Mrs. Meyer had been wearing a lap belt, her injuries would have been minor or non-existent. Plaintiff also pursued a failure-to-warn claim against Mazda Motor Corporation for Mazda's failure to properly warn Mrs. Meyer of the need to wear a lap belt to receive adequate restraint.
 

The case was tried before a St. Louis County, MO jury and on October 28, 1997 Plaintiff received a $3,000,000 verdict, the verdict was the largest personal injury verdict in the history of St. Louis County.