US Actress Gwyneth Paltrow in Court Over Alleged Hit & Run Ski Accident

21st March 2023

Last modified on March 28th, 2023

It is claimed she hit and seriously injured a man in Deer Valley Utah in 2016. She and her accuser have taken the stand in an 8-day hearing that puts the focus on an important topic – collisions on the slopes. UPDATED

She is being sued in a civil trial by a retired optometrist, 76-year old Terry Sanderson.

He claims she was skiing out of control when she crashed into him leaving him with a brain injury, four broken ribs and other serious injuries.

Paltrow has counter-sued and claimed that he hit her.

Mr Sanderson, is seeking damages of $300,000 (£245,000).

He had a previous claim for $3.1m (£2.5m) dropped.

The original claim states “This case involves a hit-and-run ski crash at Deer Valley, Utah, where defendant Gwyneth Paltrow skied out of control and hit the back of Terry Sanderson, another skier, who was downhill, knocking him down hard, knocking him out, and causing a brain injury, four broken ribs and other serious injuries.

“Paltrow got up, turned and skied away, leaving Sanderson stunned, lying in the snow, seriously injured.”

It is claimed that Paltrow’s ski instructor made no attempt to help him.

It also claimed the instructor did not send for help and later accused Mr Sanderson of having caused the crash in a “false report to protect his client”.

Deer Valley, Utah. Image © PlanetSKI

Whatever the right and wrongs of this individual incident people crashing into each other on the slopes is becoming more of an issue, as we have reported earlier.

Here at PlanetSKI we will not be following the case day-by-day with all the celebrity tittle-tattle, that will no doubt be covered extensively elsewhere.

But we will be looking at the important issue of collisions on the slopes, the rules, what speeds are safe, how much responsibility people have and the concentration levels requires.

We will also look at what can be done to improve the situation once the outcome of the court case is known.

The case will hinge on which skier was uphill at the time of the accident.

Skiers ahead or downhill have the right of way.

A lawyer for Terry Sanderson told the jury in Utah that Gwyneth Paltrow was “distracted” when she crashed, and her “reckless” actions had caused the collision on a slope in 2016.

“Distracted skiers cause crashes,” said Mr Sanderson’s attorney, Lawrence Buhler.

“She knew that skiing that way, blindly skiing down a mountain while looking up and to the side, was reckless; she knew that continuing to ski that way… she would crash into somebody below her.”

Mr Buhler said Ms Paltrow crashed into his client and then quickly skied away.

Steve Owens, Ms Paltrow’s lawyer, dismissed Mr Sanderson’s claims as “utter BS”.

He told the jury his client had just begun descending the slope when a pair of skis suddenly appeared between her legs and a man collided into her back.

The case continues.