Kevin Hart might be getting sued in the high-profile crash earlier this month.
In case you haven’t heard, actor Kevin Hart and his custom 1970 Plymouth Barracuda were involved in a crash on September 1st. Hart was in the passenger seat while a friend was driving down a Malibu highway when he lost control and went through the highway guardrail. The Barracuda rolled several times before coming to a stop in a ditch.
Everyone survived and even managed to crawl out of the wreck to make it to Hart’s house which was nearby. But not without injuries--Hart was later taken to hospital for a serious back injury, while his friend and another passenger in the back seat also sought medical attention.
The car was a total writeoff, which is a crying shame. It was a brand new custom job that Hart received last July. Body panels were made out of carbon fiber, the interior was entirely modernized, new wheels, and the entire powertrain was swapped with a Challenger Hellcat for 707 screaming horsepower.
Which might be why Hart’s friend drove the thing into a ditch.
Anyway, since its Hollywood and Hart has millions of dollars, TMZ reports that Hart’s now-former friends have all got lawyers and a big lawsuit is brewing. The passengers argue that Hart’s car didn’t have airbags or safety harnesses and this constitutes criminal negligence. Apparently they’ve never been in a classic car and aren’t aware that adding airbags to a Barracuda is basically impossible.
Hart also has a lawyer and is likely to sue the driver for crashing his car. The whole thing is likely to just result in a lot of legal wrangling before one big settlement is reached.
But the interesting thing here is that sources within the California Highway Patrol told the publication that they might lobby the classic car manufacturers that litter Cali to start including safety features in their custom projects. This might mean five-point safety harnesses would be mandatory rather than optional.
It seems unlikely given how the classic and restored car market doesn’t want added safety features, but this is California so you never really know.
(via CarScoops)