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$8.7 Million Verdict Against Ford Upheld
September 21, 2006
A federal appeals court upheld an $8.7 million verdict in favor of the plaintiffs against Ford Motor Company in a crashworthiness lawsuit.
U.S. Army Major Barry Muth was sitting in the front passenger seat when the car's driver drove it into a concrete divider. The car flipped and landed on its roof in the oncoming lane.
Muth, now 46, was left a paraplegic by the 1999 accident in Saudi Arabia.
He alleges that a design defect in the 1996 Crown Victoria's roof caused it to crush 12 inches into the interior upon impact, and hit his head. However, Ford's defense claimed that a replacement windshield compromised the roof's strength.
Expert witnesses claimed that by spending less than $30 per vehicle, Ford could have significantly strengthened the car's roof structure, decreasing deformity during impacts, and lowering risk of serious passenger injury.
The expert witnesses also testified that Ford had resisted attempts made as early as the 1970s by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to get them to strengthen their roofs.
The appeals court upheld the jury's decision that Ford's argument about the windshield's role in the car's structural integrity was "scant at best" and essentially beside the point. "The windshield's contribution, if any, to the roof strength was not part of Muth's theory of design defect," the court said.
Muth and his family are to be awarded the full $8.7 million, including damages for physical pain, future medical expenses, lost retirement benefits, impairment, and disfigurement.
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