In June 2004, a jury in San Diego, California, returned
the first plaintiff's verdict in a lawsuit challenging the safety of
the Ford Explorer. The plaintiff, Benetta Buell-Wilson, was left paralyzed
when the roof of her 1997 Ford Explorer caved in after it rolled over
when she swerved to avoid an object in the road. Buell Wilson charged
that the Ford Explorer was unstable and had a weak roof.
In August 2004, Ford settled a rollover death case involving its Explorer
as a jury was considering whether to award punitive damages. Earlier,
the jury in Fort Meyers, Florida, awarded the family of victim Bob
Miller $5.3 million in compensatory damages. Miller was on his way
home from his roofing job and was wearing his seat belt and a hard
hat when a tire lots its tread, causing the Explorer to swerve and
then flip over.
In March 2005, a jury found Ford responsible for the deaths of Corina
Garcia and Diana Alicia of Crystal City, Texas. The jury was presented
evidence that the 2000 Ford Explorer was defective in its design because
Ford used tempered side glass instead of laminated safety glass. Available
for decades, laminated glass substantially reduces the risk of passengers
being ejected in a rollover accident.
In September 2005, a Texas jury found that Ford Motor Co. should pay
$42 million to the family of a 10-year-old boy who was killed when he
was partly ejected from a Ford Expedition in a 2004 rollover accident.
The boy, Matthew Marroquin, was wearing his seat belt when the vehicle's
side window shattered and the boy hit the ground as it rolled, his family
said. The suit is one of a growing number claiming automakers should
have used stronger glass in side and rear windows to prevent ejections
and partial ejections. |
