Jury Awards Dallas Woman $36M In Lawsuit Against Honda After Life Altering Car Crash

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - A jury has awarded a Dallas woman $36 million in its verdict against Honda after she was paralyzed in a rollover crash.

On November 15, 2015, Sarah Milburn along with some friends were riding in an Uber when they were t-boned at the intersection of McKinney and North Fitzhugh in Uptown.

Millburn was 23-years-old.

Dallas police said the driver of the Uber ran a red light, but wasn't cited. They also said the driver of the other car was charged with DWI.

According to Milburn's attorneys, she buckled her seatbelt prior to the wreck, but due to Honda's defective design of the restraint, when the Uber van she was riding in rolled over, her lower body was not held to the seat by the lap belt. This allowed the shoulder belt to "hang" Sarah, resulting in a cervical fracture and quadriplegia.

The jury assessed fault 63 percent on Honda making them J&S for the full judgement amount.

Milburn is dedicating all her efforts at regaining her physical strength and learning to live with what her family calls their "new normal."

"I don't focus on anything that is bad because you will not gain anything from being sad," said Millburn. "You can't view your life like 'oh well, I can't do that.' Well you can do something else."

Honda has put 1.6 million defective seat belt restraint systems into the market, many of which are in third row seats where children are often riding. Millburn's attorney's said the verdict sent a message to Honda stating the current restraint design needs to go.

Sarah Milburn's trial team plans to lobby to pass "Sarah's Law" banning the dangerous and defective restraint systems.