PITTSBURGH – A Western Pennsylvania woman claims she suffered third-degree burns over 70% of her body in a catastrophic motor vehicle accident two years ago, and has brought legal action against Mazda and other entities responsible for designing and selling the used vehicle that allegedly caused the crash.
Payton Renee Balogh of Homer City filed suit in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on Sept. 20 versus Mazda Motor Corporation of Hiroshima, Japan, Mazda Motor of America, Inc. in Irvine, Calif., Starter Cars in Altoona and Sutliff Auto Group of Harrisburg.
“On Oct. 20, 2020, at approximately 9:37 p.m., the plaintiff was the seat-belted driver of a 2010 Mazda 3. She was driving westerly on Airport Road near Geesey Road in White Township, when she was caused to lose steering control and left the roadway. The Mazda traversed a grassy area and struck a partly buried concrete stanchion causing damage to the Mazda, including some undercarriage components, and then the vehicle rolled over onto its passenger side. A fire erupted, spreading smoke and fire into the occupant section, where the plaintiff was trapped. Before anyone could come to her rescue, Balogh was catastrophically burned over most of her body,” the suit said.
“The unsafe, carelessly-designed and defective design of the Mazda and its failure to be crashworthy, caused damage to vehicle structural components and components containing flammable liquids, which precipitated the leakage of flammable fluids and the trapping of the plaintiff. As a result, smoke and fire entered the occupant section of the vehicle, causing Balogh to suffer catastrophic burn injuries and secondary complications. The unsafe, carelessly-designed and defective design of the Mazda and its failure to be crashworthy, caused the plaintiff to become trapped and she was unable to escape before the smoke and fire encapsulated her and she suffered catastrophic thermal burns (third-degree) to more than 70 percent of her body.”
According to the suit, the defendants’ collective liability for the design and marketing of the vehicle directly precipitated Balogh’s severe burn injuries.
“As a direct and proximate result of the misconduct of the defendants and the defective design of the Mazda, the plaintiff suffered second-degree and third-degree burns to most aspects of her body, including her head, face, chest, bilateral upper extremities, bilateral upper thighs and the entirety of her back and buttocks, which has resulted in permanent disfigurement, functional injuries, disability and continuing complications,” the suit states.
“Additionally, Balogh suffered acute respiratory failure, severe sepsis with septic shock, tachycardia, amputation of all the fingers on her right hand and other physical, emotional and functional complications to be proven at the time of trial. Plaintiff’s injuries and the resulting medical complications have in the past and will in the future require ongoing hospitalizations and rehabilitation services.”
For counts of strict products liability, negligence, gross negligence, wanton disregard and punitive damages, the plaintiff is seeking damages in excess of $50,000, plus interest, costs of suit and other such items of damages as permitted by law.
The plaintiff is represented by Larry Coben and Jo Ann Nieim of Anapol Weiss, in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The defendants have not yet secured legal counsel.
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas case GD-22-011811
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com