Texas Court Overturns $26 Million Verdict for Paralyzed Woman In Honda Odyssey Crash

A woman left quadriplegic after riding in a 2011 Honda Odyssey has been left with nothing, following the Texas Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the $26 million in damages she was initially awarded.

In November 2015, Sarah Milburn was traveling with five friends in Dallas, riding in an Uber owned by Arian Yusufzai. Milburn was seated in the third-row middle seat of a Honda Odyssey. However, the seat belt of this seat wasn’t one she was familiar with and included a detachable shoulder strap that needed to be pulled down from the ceiling, anchored to the seat, and then pulled over the passenger’s hips.

Read: Woman Awarded $37 Million After Odyssey Crash Left Her A Quadriplegic, Honda Appeals

Milburn, then 23, pulled down the shoulder strap and buckled it, meaning there was no belt over her lap. The Honda was struck by a pickup truck during the trip and knocked onto its roof. The force of the crash caused the shoulder strap to pull on the young woman’s neck. While the five other passengers escaped without injury, Milburn was left a quadriplegic.

The case went to trial in early 2019, where Milburn was initially awarded $37.6 million after the jury found Honda liable. They noted that while the vehicle met regulatory standards, those standards were “inadequate to protect the public from harm.” The award was later reduced to $26 million.

Over the ensuing years, Honda continued to appeal the verdict. After being rejected by the Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas, Honda pursued an appeal with the Texas Supreme Court. Recently, the Texas Supreme Court reversed the verdict, ruling that the Odyssey met all mandatory federal safety standards at the time it was manufactured.

We further hold that the presumption was not rebutted, as no evidence supports the jury’s finding that the federal safety standards failed to adequately protect the public from unreasonable risks of injury,” the court said. “Accordingly, we reverse the court of appeals’ judgment and render a take-nothing judgment for Honda.”