Old Wolf
Grocery cart damagesProbably (a) they're all out of puff after removing the outermost packaging and protective styrofoam from large or bulk purchases and strewing it around, or (b) the remains of their spilled or...
Miami: A jury in Miami has ordered Ford Motor Co. to pay 61 million dollars to the family of a teenager who died in a Ford Explorer that rolled over, a lawyer in the case said.
Attorney Bruce Kaster said the decision was reached this week after a Ford engineer testified in a deposition that he had recommended in 1989 that the Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle be lowered and widened to increase stability, but that the changes were not made until 2001.
Jurors ordered Ford to pay 61 million dollars in compensatory damages to the family of Lance Hall, who died on a Florida highly in 1997 when the Explorer in which he was traveling rolled over several times. The jurors were told that the driver had briefly nodded off and lost control of the vehicle when he woke up. Both Hall and the driver were 17 years old at the time.
"If the vehicle didn't have a defect in its handling, in its steering, they would have been able to steer the Explorer back in the road," said Kaster, an expert in SUV rollovers who represented Hall's family.
"Ford did not want to delay the introduction of the Explorer. Accordingly, Ford produced a vehicle they knew was unstable in order to maximize their profits," he said.
Ford replaced some 30 million tires in 2000 and 2001 after federal regulators documented tread separation was involved in hundreds of Explorer accidents.
The three-billion-dollar replacement program was prompted in part by an official investigation that linked 271 baneities and 800 accidents to events in which Explorers tipped over after parts of their Firestone tires peeled off at high speeds.
Bridgestone Firestone last month agreed to pay 240 million dollars to Ford Motor Co. to settle liability over the recall of defective tires linked to the rests.
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Grocery cart damagesIt never ceases to amaze me about how lazy and inconsiderate American shoppers are in the parking lots. My car gets several dents by rolling carts left by lazy shoppers, who wouldn't...
Sounds to me more like Ford f***ed up big time by rushing a dangerous product to market, and this just follows in the path of the previous Explorer rollover suits. Even if the driver makes a mistake, the vehicle shouldn't be so poorly designed to nearly guarantee a spectacular rollover.
Dave
