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F150 Rollover
Highway fatalities in 2003 dropped to its lowest level since recordkeeping began in 1966. Despite the overall increased safety of America's roadways, rollover accidents took the lives of 10,376 people in 2003 alone. Ford's F150 has been the best selling full size pickup for nearly three decades. The most profitable vehicle Ford makes, the F150 has been the target of rollover lawsuits over the years. Throughout the years, Ford has settled a number of lawsuits that challenged the strength of the roof in its F-Series SuperCab pickups.
According to estimates, at least 10,000 people are killed or seriously injured every year because of weak roofs in rollover crashes. In December 2002, a Duval County, Texas jury found the crushed roof caused the side doors of a 2000 F150 to burst open and eject the two occupants to their deaths. The F150 rollover verdict was believed to be the first time a jury linked roof deformation to occupant ejection in a rollover accident and awarded the deceased occupant's survivors $225 million.
For part of its defense, Ford hired an outside firm to do a 45-mph dolly rollover test on a F150 SuperCab. The plaintiffs' lawyers, instead, used Ford's own tests to show the jury how the crushed roof helped result in the fatal ejections of the vehicle occupants. The F150 rollover test caused the truck to suffer severe damage to the roof, showing the doors flying open and dummies being partially ejected.
One of the biggest automotive product liability judgments on record, Ford negotiated a confidential settlement and chose not to appeal the case. The F150 rollover test was considered to be a critical piece of evidence in the trial. A former Ford engineer also testified on behalf of the plaintiffs, saying that the door latches fastening the front and rear driver's side doors failed because of the F150's roof caving in. The engineer testified that, "on the second roll, the driver's door latch failed because of the manner in which the roof crushed."
Safety experts say that deformed roofs have a role in rollover ejections. Critics had claimed the Ford F150 SuperCab appeared to have an abnormally high rate of ejections in rollovers. The Ford F150s were redesigned for the 2004 model year. The NHTSA has been widely criticized for its failure to implement timely and appropriate safety measures, including with regards to rollover accidents and roof strength. In 2000, in response to the Ford/Firestone rollover debacle that left hundreds dead and even more injured, the NHTSA immediately passed new safety standards that years later continued to be delayed.
In April 2004, U.S. House of Representatives John Dingell responded saying, "You may be better off with a strong roof. But they don't know what a strong roof is, and they don't know how to design the test. They don't know how much better a strong roof will do in a rollover." Five consumer groups issued a letter to NHTSA Administrator Jeffrey Runge in May 2004 saying, " Although the issues of rollover stability, roof crush and ejection mitigation have been part of the agency's research and rulemaking agendas for many years, little definitive action has been taken by the agency to improve either vehicle stability or crashworthiness in a rollover crash."
If you have any questions about your legal rights regarding Ford F150 Rollovers, please contact us.
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