Makers of Big Kid Sport booster seat hit with product liability suit after wreck

A Wilson County man has filed suit against the makers of the Big Kid Sport booster car seat, alleging the company’s product failed to protect his minor daughter from injury following an automobile collision two years ago.

Individually and on behalf of his child, San Juan Arias filed suit against the Evenflo Company on April 2 in the U.S. District Court for Southern Texas, Houston Division.

According to the complaint, on April 26, 2013, the child was a passenger in a 2012 Dodge Journey, seated in the left-rear passenger side of the vehicle. The vehicle was traveling though an intersection at US-77and IH-10 when another automobile struck the Journey’s passenger side.

At the time of the collision, Arias’ daughter weighed less than 40 pounds and was properly restrained in the Big Kid Sport booster safety seat.

However, Arias alleges deficiencies in the Big Kid resulted in catastrophic injuries that have rendered the child a ventilator-dependent quadriplegic.

“Plaintiffs believed that the Big Kid in question was fit for its intended purposes,” the suit states.

“Evenflo … knew the ‘Big Kid’ was not a safety seat and that to even imply that it was a ‘safety seat’ was false, unfair, and a blatant misrepresentation that would seriously mislead consumers. Evenflo … knew the ‘Big Kid’ would not provide effective restraint for children weighing less than 40 pounds in automobile crashes, especially in lateral crashes.”

On top of punitive damages, Arias is suing for his daughter’s past and future mental anguish, pain, impairment and medical expenses.

He is represented by the Ammons Law Firm in Houston.

Case No. 4:15-cv-00863