Jury awards $61 mln in Ford rollover case
Nov. 17, 2005 - A jury ordered Ford Motor Co. to pay $61 million to the parents of a 17-year-old who died when the Ford Explorer in which he was riding rolled over. The outcome is significant because the ruling turned on the sport utility vehicle's stability and handling. For the past several years Ford has argued that rollover accidents where due to driver error or defective Firestone tires and not a problem with the vehicle's stability and handling. The ruling is expected to clear the way for similar trials against Ford to proceed in Florida, Mississippi and California.

In the Florida case, teenager Lance Hall was a passenger in the Explorer his friend was driving when it flipped over on Alligator Alley between Naples and Miami in 1997.

The jury awarded his mother and father, $61 million in compensatory damages. It did not award punitive damages.

Ford, the second-largest U.S. automaker, said it would appeal the verdict.

Texas Jury Awards $31 million In Explorer Rollover Suit
In March 2005, a Texas jury found Ford Motor Co. liable for a rollover accident involving a Ford Explorer and ordered Ford to pay $31 million in compensatory damages. The case involved two occupants who were killed in a rollover accident while riding in a 2000 model year Ford Explorer. A spokesperson for Ford, stated that the company would appeal the verdict.

In a separate Explorer rollover case in San Diego County, California, last June, a jury ordered Ford to pay $369 million. The award was later reduced to $150 million.

California Jury Awards $368.6 Million In Ford Explorer Rollover Case
June 2004 - A San Diego jury has ordered Ford Motor Co. to pay $368.6 million to a woman paralyzed in a Ford Explorer SUV rollover accident. The verdict is the first-ever damage award based on a finding that the popular vehicles are defective because of their rollover risk and weak roofs.

The jury awarded $122.6 million dollars in compensatory damages to the plaintiff and her husband after finding that her 1997 Ford Explorer was defective because of its instability, rollover risk, and weak roof. Two days later the jury awarded a punitive award of $246 million. The jury decided to add on punitive damages after voting 9 to 3 that Ford had acted with fraud or malice in the design and marketing of the Explorer.

The plaintiff, Benetta Buell-Wilson, was left paralyzed after her Ford Explorer flipped over on a California highway in January 2002 as she tried to avoid a metal obstruction. The plaintiff's vehicle ran off the road and rolled over four and a half times.

The award ends Ford's 13-trial winning streak in cases involving Ford Explorer rollover cases. Ford has settled hundreds of cases over the past years involving Explorer rollover cases, but has always avoided admitting liability.

The plaintiff's attorney commented that that Ford had known for many years the stability problem in their SUV, which amounted to a "profits over safety calculus." The attorney also argued that Ford could have settled the case for a smaller amount, but Ford decided to proceed with the case out of arrogance of their past successes.

The plaintiff offered to waive $100 million dollars of the punitive award if Ford agreed to recall all Explorers through the 2001 model year. However, presently, Ford plans to challenge the verdict stating that the "extremely severe crash [was] initiated by the driver, and any other SUV would have rolled under similar circumstances." The attorney for Ford also plans to ask the judge to slash the enormous punitive damages calling the award "patently unconstitutional".

There is speculation that the verdict may raise pressure on Ford to increase settlement amounts in order to avoid the possibility of similarly large trial verdicts. As of June 2004, there are an estimated 1,100 rollover suits pending against Ford.

Other plaintiffs have vowed to use court transcripts that show the company knowingly put out a defective product. According to official court transcripts, Ford attorney Anthony Sonnett told jurors that Ford engineers were "sorry that they let the rest of the company down. " Moreover Sonnett told jurors: "It's impossible not to be angry at Ford, Ford Motor Co., for what decisions that in marketing and selling this Ford Explorer it knowingly put a defective product on the market and caused the family tragedy."

There are over 5 million Ford Explorers on the road today and Explorers remain the top-selling SUV models in the US.

In 2000, a massive recall was ordered of Firestone tires after at least 350 reported deaths, many involving rollovers of Ford Explorers mounted with the recalled tires.

Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) Rollovers
Almost one-half of all new vehicles are trucks, SUVs or vans. All vehicles present safety issues, but the “new” vehicles and growing trends in consumer purchasing have created concern for many. Here is why:

About Rollovers - Rollovers are dangerous car accidents that have a higher fatality rate than other types of crashes. Of the nearly 11 million passenger car, SUV, pickup and van crashes in 2002, only 3% involved a rollover. However, rollovers account for nearly one-third of all deaths from passenger vehicle crashes. In 2002 alone, more than 10,000 people died in rollover crashes. Rollovers are complex crash incidents and are particularly violent in nature. Rollovers, more so than other types of crashes, reflect the interaction of the driver, road, vehicle, and environmental factors.

All types of vehicles can rollover. However, taller, narrower vehicles such as SUVs, pickups, and vans have higher centers of gravity, and thus are more susceptible to rollover if involved in a single-vehicle crash. NHTSA data indicates that 95% of single-vehicle rollovers are tripped. Tripping occurs when a vehicle leaves the roadway and slides sideways, digging the tires into the roadway or striking an object such as a curb, guardrail, snow bank or other object. The high tripping force applied to the tires can cause the vehicle to roll over. SUVs' size, high center of gravity, narrow track width, and top-heavy designs make them up to three times more prone to rollovers than other vehicles. Further aggravating the problem is that SUVs manufactured for consumer use on streets and highways fail to include important anti-rollover features (such as roll bars) found on their off-road counterparts. Additionally weak roof designs (prone to collapsing on occupants in rollovers) and inadequate safety restraint systems increase the risk of severe injury.

According to a report by the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA), about 9,000 people die each year in 227,000 rollover accidents. Moreover, rollovers accounted for more than half of all single-vehicle crashes and that the rate of serious passenger injury in rollover crashes in 36% higher than in non-rollover crashes. Additionally, the NHTSA warns that vehicle rollover crashes are much more likely to result in serious head injuries than other types of accidents.

SUV Recalls
In August 2003, Ford announced that it would recall 1.7 million Sports Utility Vehicles. The recall covers almost half a million 2001 Mercury Mountaineers, Ford Explorers, Ford Explorer Sport and Sport Trac vehicles fitted with cruise control systems. Ford also wants to recall 1.6 million models with high back seats. The recall will replace potentially faulty bolts on the driver seat and check for malfunctioning speed control cables. The recall was ordered after Ford received 14 complaints saying the cruise control function has failed and following complaints that the bolt securing the driver's reclining seat, to the seat frame, was loose or fractured. About 1.5 million of the vehicles recalled were sold in the United States.The remainder were sold in Canada, Mexico, US territories such as Guam or Puerto Rico and Europe.

In February 2004, General Motors announced that it would recall about 636,0000 mid-size sport utility vehicles. The recall includes certain model year 2002 and 2003 Chevrolet TrailBlazer and TrailBlazer EXT, GMC Envoy and Envoy XL, and Oldsmobile Bravada SUV models as well as some Isuzu Motors Ltd. (7202.T) Ascenders, which GM builds. The recall was announced due to two reports of crashes related to electronics that could short-circuit when water leaks into a wiper module.

Government Announces New Ratings for Rollovers
In August 2004, the government's traffic safety agency, the NHSTA, announced the expansion of it rollover rating system for cars and trucks. The NHTSA's old rollover rating system were based on the vehicles height and width and a test which includes a sharp turn at 50mph. Vehicles were rated on a scale of one to five stars - vehicles that rolled over 10% of the time or less were given a 5-star rating whereas vehicles that rolled over more than 40% of the time were given a one-star rating.

The new system, available at the NHTSA's website, maintains the the star rating but now also provides consumers with the percentage chance that a vehicle would rollover in crash similar to that in the NHTSA'a test. The website also allows consumers to compare ratings among similar vehicles.

Currently the new system only covers 2004 vehicles. The Chrysler Pacifica sports utility vehicle achieved a four-star rating, with a rollover percentage chance of only 13 percent - the lowest of all vehicle tested. Ford's front wheel drive Explorer Sport Trac received the lowest rollover rating of any SUV, with a rollover percentage of 34.8 percent. None of the tested SUVs received a five-star rating. Most SUVs scored a three-star rating.

The NHTSA encourages consumers to use the new rating system and website when deciding to buy a new vehicle.