2006 Vehicle Safety Press Articles

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December 30, 2006

St. Petersburg Times, "Child killed when car's tire fails on Interstate 4"

 A tire failure turned fatal Friday after a driver lost control of her car on Interstate 4. The car spun out, then tumbled over, ejecting her 4-year-old son. More...

December 29, 2006

New Jersey Law Journal, "N.J. Judge OKs $14.5M Settlement in Class Action Over Bad Jeep Brakes"

A New Jersey judge has approved a $14.5 million settlement in a national class action alleging defective brakes on Jeep Grand Cherokees. More...

December 27, 2006

Insurance Journal, "Chrysler Recalls Vehicles to Reprogram Brake System Computers"

DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group said Friday it was recalling more than 60,000 vehicles to reprogram a brake system computer to avoid the loss of antilock brakes and traction control. More...

December 9, 2006

The Post and Courier, "Judge Refuses new trial in $31 million accident verdict"

A judge refused to order a new trial after a jury awarded $31 million to the family of passenger injured in a Ford rollover accident. More...

December 6, 2006

Associated Press, "GM opens rollover test facility; automaker hopes to develop sensors for special air bags to help prevent ejections"

General Motors Corp. on Tuesday unveiled a $10-million crash test facility that will help the automaker study rollover crashes. The Detroit-based company also said that by 2012 it would make rollover-enabled air bags a standard feature on all its retail vehicles. The air bags currently are used on 43% of GM's trucks. More...

December 6, 2006

The Napa Valley Register, "Napa Mom Dies on Trail"

A Napa mother, Kelli Lynn Bruner, 37 lost her life early Tuesday morning in a single-vehicle crash on Silverado Trail, south of Hagen Road. More...

December 5, 2006

ABC News, "Rollovers Account for 33 Percent of all Auto Realted Deaths"

Rollovers account for 3 percent of all auto accidents but nearly 33 percent of all auto-related deaths. General Motors Corp. is trying to do something about that startling statistic. More...

November 4, 2006

Enterprise News, "Lawsuit Blames Ford Motor Co. for Death"

A trial began Thursday in the case of a Beaumont family which is suing Ford Motor Co., claiming the design of their SUV was defective and led to the death of their son in a 2004 accident. More...

October 18, 2006

Arizona Daily Star, "Tire Treads Separate, Three die in SUV rollover crash"

Three people were killed and three others were injured in a rollover crash on Interstate 10 near the Cochise-Pima county line Monday. All of the deceased and injured are from Tucson, said Officer Jim Oien, a Department of Public Safety spokesman. They are all brothers and cousins who work together. More...

October 15, 2006

The Bakersfield Californian, "Man Killed In Tread Separation Accident"

A man killed in a crash on Interstate 5 near Valprado Road on Friday afternoon has been identified by the Kern County coroner's office. More...

September 30, 2006

Salt Lake Tribune, "Fatal 15 Passenger Van Rollover Crash and Tire Failure"

Federal investigators say the tire failure of the van that crashed Sept. 26, 2005, killing eight Utah State University students and their instructor, has parallels to two 15-passenger van accidents in 2001. More...

September 14, 2006

San Francisco Chronicle, "Anti-Rollover Tech Required by 2012"

New automobiles will be required to have anti-rollover technology by the 2012 model year, which should save thousands of lives annually, the government's traffic safety agency said Thursday. More...

September 6, 2006

Los Angeles Times, "34 Are Hurt When Bus Rolls Over on Off-Ramp"

A bus traveling from New York to Boston rolled over on an interstate offramp in Auburn, injuring 34 people, authorities said. More...

August 11, 2006

WSBTV.com, "Women's Truck Goes Up In Flames While Parked"

Cassandra Miles says about an hour after she had parked her 2001 Ford F-150 in the driveway near her garage Wednesday – she heard the truck’s alarm start going off. More...

August 3, 2006

USA Today, "Ford recalls 1.2M trucks over fire hazard; almost 6M vehicles recalled for issue"

Ford recalled 1.2 million trucks, sport-utility vehicles and vans on Thursday amid concerns of potential engine fires, expanding upon one of the largest vehicle recalls in history. Ford Motor said the recall was tied to the cruise control deactivation switch system, which could corrode over time, overheat and catch fire. Learn more about the Ford truck fire hazard vehicle recall.

August 3, 2006

San Francisco Chronicle, "Ford Issues Recall, Sees 2Q Loss"

Ford Motor Co., already reeling from business setbacks, recalled 1.2 million trucks, sport utility vehicles and vans Thursday amid concerns about potential engine fires.  Ford said the recall was tied to the speed control deactivation switch system, which could corrode over time, overheat and ignite. It builds upon one of the largest recalls in U.S. history. More...

August 2, 2006

The Detroit News, "Tire Makers Try to Protect Safety History Data"

A federal judge on Monday spurned a request from tire makers who wanted a ban on releasing detailed information about tires and their safety history. More

July 24, 2006

The Wall Street Journal, "Bridgestone Unit Widens Tire-Recall Efforts"

Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire LLC said it is taking additional steps, including sending letters to current owners of certain Ford Explorers, to make sure tires recalled in 2000 and 2001 have been taken off the road. More...

July 22, 2006

Detroit News, "Check tires:Tire maker will warn owners that some tires recalled in 2000-01 may still be on the road"

Six years after a multi-billion dollar recall of 6.5 million Firestone tires linked to hundreds of rollover injuries and deaths, the tire maker is making a renewed effort to notify customers that tens of thousands of the tires may still be on the road.

Bridgestone/Firestone North America Tire LLC, the Nashville, Tenn.-based subsidiary of Japan's Bridgestone Corp., said Friday it will notify customers again of the potential hazard. The action follows reports of at least five serious recent accidents tied to recalled tires, including the May 21 death of an 11-year-old boy in California.

July 22, 2006

The Californian (Bakersfield, CA), "People injured during Yamaha Rhino rollovers suing company"

Doctors gave Bakersfield resident Dwight Grimes an ugly choice when his Rhino, a vehicle the size of a golf cart with the motor of an all-terrain vehicle, tumbled over on his leg: Amputate the leg or possibly live with excruciating pain and limited mobility. The doctors suggested Grimes amputate. He chose to keep the leg. More...

July 21, 2006

City News Service, "Bridgestone Recall"

Bridgestone Firestone today renewed its recall of defective tires made for the Ford Explorer and other SUVS in the late 1990s, as two more lawsuits were filed against the company in Los Angeles. More...

July 21, 2006

Associated Press Worldstream , "Bridgestone Firestone to Notify US Owners of Recalled Tires"

Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, seeking to finish the massive tire recalls it began six years ago, said Friday it would notify owners to bring in 200,000 recalled tires that may still be on vehicles or used as spares. More...

July 21, 2006

CNN, "Firestone tires recall linked to recent deaths; Firestone announces renewed recall after recent deaths and injuries in rollovers involving SUVs"

Firestone announced a renewed recall effort Friday for its radial tires, mainly spares, still remaining on the Ford Explorer and similar SUVs from the 1990s. More...

July 21, 2006

Associated Press, "Bridgestone Firestone to Notify Owners of Recalled Tires"

Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, seeking to finish the massive tire recalls it began six years ago, said Friday it will notify owners to bring in 200,000 recalled tires that may still be on vehicles or used as spares. More...

Learn more about tire failures, tire defects and personal injury vehicle lawsuits.

July 17, 2006

News-Democrat, "Collinsville woman settles lawsuit for $7 million; Husband died in camper fire caused by faulty refrigerator"

A Collinsville woman whose husband died in a camper fire due to a faulty refrigerator has settled a lawsuit for $7 million, and her attorney suspects that as many as 12,000 recreational vehicles have similar refrigerators which could cause fires. More...

July 12, 2006

CNN Money, "Toyota's totally bizarre recall; Why would Toyota issue a recall designed to make vehicles less safe?"

This fall, Toyota will voluntarily recall nearly 160,000 Toyota Tundra pickups so that they can be made less safe for children riding in the front seat. More...

July 8, 2006

The Record (Bergen County, NJ), "Fatal Rollovers Cause Still Unknown"

Authorities said Friday they had no new developments in their investigation of a New Milford woman's death in an SUV rollover Wednesday night. More...

June 28, 2006

Bloomberg News, "Ford Loses Appeal in Windstar Seat Belt Suit"

Ford Motor Co. lost its appeal of a $30-million verdict by a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury that found the company sold Windstar minivans with a defective seat belts.

 Ford was sued by relatives of Johan Karlsson, who was 5 years old in 1996 when the family's minivan hit a roll of steel that fell from a truck on a highway, breaking the child's spine and leaving him a paraplegic.

June 13, 2006

Reuters, "Connecticut urges probe into Jeep Grand Cherokee"

Connecticut urged federal regulators on Tuesday to probe possible acceleration flaws in late-model Jeep Grand Cherokees after a 52-year-old man was run over and killed by one in a car wash.

Connecticut authorities said they had received several reports of Jeep Grand Cherokees suddenly accelerating out of car washes while changing gears to drive from neutral.

June 13, 2006

Associated Press, "Stability Control Gear Cuts Auto Deaths, Study Finds"

Ten thousand fatal automobile crashes a year, or nearly one-third of such accidents in the U.S., could be prevented if more vehicles were equipped with technology that helps to keep them from rolling over, the insurance industry says in a study released today.

June 13, 2006

Bloomberg News, "Chrysler Recalls Grand Cherokees for Seat Fires"

DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler unit recalled 111,687 Jeep Grand Cherokees after some heated front seats on the sport utility vehicles caught fire.
The carmaker received 32 reports of fires or overheating, with 15 injuries, said a spokesman at Chrysler's headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich. He said at least six lawsuits had been filed by owners who were burned. The recall affects 2003 and 2004 models.

Also, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Volkswagen was recalling 1998 through 2000 models of its Audi A6 and S6 models for a second time. A short circuit in dashboard wiring might not have been properly repaired after a 2004 recall, the agency said.

June 8, 2006

11Alive.com (Atlanta, GA), "'Defect' Blamed in Toddler's Death"

A toddler was killed Tuesday night in front of his Cobb County home when a minivan, with its engine off, rolled over him. According to police, another child had been able to shift the minivan out of "park" setting the vehicle in motion. More...

May 31, 2006

Grand Rapid Press, "Yamaha Rhino ATV flips, killing 11-Year-Old"

Kristen Lake was killed in an off-road vehicle accident while spending Memorial Day weekend with family in the Upper Peninsula. More...

May 31, 2006

Ridder Tribune News, "21 Riders dead in ATV Wrecks So Far This Year"

A Fayette County man was killed in a wreck Sunday, marking what appears to be the state's 21st ATV death in 2006, according to people who track the state's ATV death toll. More...

May 31, 2006

Los Angeles Times, "U.S. Reviewing Bridgestone's Steeltex Tires"

Steeltex tires from Bridgestone Corp. are being reviewed by U.S. auto safety regulators after a Pasadena lawyer claimed they were linked to accidents that killed 57 people. More...

May 1, 2006

Associated Press, "GM to Recall About 40,000 Pickup Trucks"

General Motors Corp. is recalling about 400,000 pickup trucks due to defective brake lights. The affected vehicles are the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon from the 2004-2006 model years and the 2006 Isuzu i-280 and i-350. More...

April 24, 2006

The Arizona Republic, "Arizona Doesn't Tread Lightly"

Every summer, hundreds of drivers experience sudden and sometimes catastrophic tread separations mostly caused by a combination of poor maintenance, tire damage and excess heat. More...

April 6, 2006

Albuquerque Journal, "Ford Is Sued After Deadly Area Crash"

The Explorer rolled over in the road and continued into the median between the northbound and southbound I-25 lanes. The Explorer came to rest on its roof. More...

April 4, 2006

FindLaw.com, "Nebraska High Court Affirms $18.6 Million Verdict in Chevy Blazer Roof-Crush Case"

The Nebraska Supreme Court has affirmed an $18.6 million verdict for the plaintiff in a roof-crush case involving a 1996 Chevrolet S-10 Blazer. The state high court rejected the contention of defendant General Motors Corp. that the jury was improperly instructed and improperly denied a fourth verdict form. More...

April 4, 2006

Appellate Court Affirms Jury Verdict Finding Ford Escort Defective

The Court of Appeals of Tennessee at Knoxville upheld a Cumberland County trial court’s decision in Potter, et al. v. Ford Motor Company. Learn more about defective Ford Escorts and lawsuits relating to Ford Escort defects.

March 17, 2006

Detroit News, "But GM won't concede defeat in $18.6 million jury award to woman paralyzed in 1997 crash"

It's been nearly nine years since Penny Shipler's spine was crushed when the roof of a 1996-model Chevrolet S-10 Blazer collapsed around her in a rollover accident. But it wasn't until last week that the paralyzed Nebraska woman apparently won her long legal battle against General Motors Corp.

March 3, 2006

Bloomberg News, "Ford said risky tires were OK for SUV; Replacements for Explorer did poorly in rollover tests"

Ford Motor Co. approved replacement tires for its Explorer sport utility vehicle that made it just as likely to roll over as the originals that Ford blamed for more than 200 deaths.

March 3, 2006

Washington Post, "Jury Awards Family $8 Million in Death; Oakton High Student One of Two Killed by Trucker Who Fell Asleep"

A Fairfax County jury awarded $8 million yesterday to the family of an Oakton High School student who was killed in 2002 when a truck driver fell asleep behind the wheel and crushed the car the teenager was riding in. More...

February 18, 2006

Bloomberg News, "Lawsuits cost Ford $255 million"

Ford Motor Co.'s strategy of going to trial to fight vehicle-accident lawsuits cost the automaker more than $255 million in verdicts it lost last year. Ford, the No. 2 U.S. automaker, lost seven verdicts of $20 million or more last year in lawsuits claiming defects linked to rollovers and other accidents, compared with one award against the rest of the industry, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

 The number of large losses, higher than in the previous five years combined, may prompt Ford to reconsider its strategy of refusing to settle before trial, Stanford University law professor Robert Rabin said. The verdicts also may hurt Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford's effort to improve its safety image and regain market share, analysts said.

February 13, 2006

Lawyers Weekly USA, "Ford Must Pay $29 M in Auto Accident"

A Texas jury ordered Ford Motor Co. to pay $29 million on Jan. 27 to a woman who was paralyzed in a rollover accident caused, at least in part, by a tire defect. More...

February 13, 2006

Detroit News, "Limited recall riles GM owners; NHTSA monitors brake callback in 20 states and D.C. as complaints mount"

General Motors Corp. last year recalled 1.35 million trucks and SUVs in 20 states and Washington, D.C., to clean brake sensors that could malfunction and cause accidents.
 Despite the recalls, though, GM is struggling to move beyond questions about the anti-lock brakes on its best-selling Chevrolet Silverado pickup and seven other models. Reports continue to pour in from states not covered under the recall -- and some from states like Michigan that are included -- of accidents and near-misses from truck owners experiencing braking problems.

February 4, 2006

Associated Press, "Design changes reduce deaths in vehicles struck by SUVs, pickups"

Design changes in sport utility vehicles and pickups have reduced deaths in cars struck by the large vehicles, a study says. The number of deaths of drivers in cars caught in side-impact crashes with SUVs dropped nearly 50 percent when automakers lowered the height of SUVs or added impact-absorbing bars below the front bumpers, said the report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

February 3, 2006

ConsumerAffairs.com, "Recalled Trucks Burn As Ford Fiddles; Massive Recall Moves Slowly as New Fires Break Out"

Despite a massive recall announced in September, Ford trucks are continuing to catch fire and burn -- some of them covered by the recall, some not. More about the Ford fire recall.

February 2, 2006

WSBTV.com, "Trucks Burst Into Flames, Even When Turned Off"

Some of the most popular trucks on the road just burst into flame while they're shut off in the drive way. Ford Motor Company has a recall to handle the problem. But some customers complain about how Ford handles those whose trucks have already burned up.

 A Kennesaw, Georgia couple blames their truck for starting the fire that killed their four year old daughter. New Year’s Day 2004, firefighters couldn't stop the home of Tanika and Juan Washington from burning to the ground. No one could save four year old Blake. She was trapped, and died in her bed. “Just to know that Tanika was screaming for her baby and was completely helpless just makes me sick,” recounted Grant Bell, a family friend. More...

January 24, 2006

Herald Salinas (CA), "Suit over fatal truck crash settled for $4.5M"

An international lawsuit stemming from a 2004 fatal crash along Highway 101 in Prunedale was settled Monday in Monterey for $4.5 million after less than three full days of trial. More about the Salinas fatal truck crash...

January 9, 2006

The Los Angeles Times, "Low Scores for SUVs, Pickups; Only six vehicles earn the insurance institute's top rank in rear crashes."

Head restraints in several sport utility vehicles and pickups poorly protected test dummies from neck injuries in a simulated rear crash at 20 mph, the insurance industry reported Sunday. More about SUV safety standards...

January 6, 2006

The Denver Post, "Death spurs car-window debate; Springs tot choked by glass"

The story of a 3-year-old taken off life support four days after being choked by an electric car window points out the need to eliminate certain switches and other potentially fatal window designs in U.S. cars, a child safety advocate said. Power car window child death article continued...

January 3, 2006

Associated Press, "Study Shows Children No Safer in SUVs"

Children are no safer riding in sport utility vehicles than in passenger cars, largely because the doubled risk of rollovers in SUVs cancels out the safety advantages of their greater size and weight, according to a study. More...