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First of all, the street cars are historic vehicles whose charm would be likely be reduced by any modification, which would be fought by historic preservationists.

Second, what the hell was the jury thinking? Louisiana, supposedly, does not allow for punitive damages, so just how was this young lady going to have actual medical damages and actual economic damages equal to $51.4 million on a present value basis? I guess she was a tennis prodigy or something similar with expected earnings of over $1 million per year.

Third, why wasn't the person who hosted the party, with apparently inadequate supervision, assessed with any responsibility? One would think the driver should have been focused on the traffic situation while the party host tended to the partygoers. (Even Johnny Cochran would admit that the party host's lack of deep pockets made them an unattractive target.)

...just how was this young lady going to have actual medical damages and actual economic damages equal to $51.4 million on a present value basis?

Well, you take Johnny's cut out of it and she actually ends up getting about $53.71/year. For the rest of her life, of course (Johnny's not that cold).

And if there were a fire in the car and the passengers couldn't get out because of the window restraints, then
lawyers would sue the transit authority for having installed them.