Ford Pays Family After Deadly Rollover

The Ammons Law Firm has reached an agreement with Ford to settle the wrongful death claims of the wife and son of a 36 year old Houston man killed in the rollover of his Ford pickup.

The man was driving his Ford F150 on a local freeway when he steered to avoid another vehicle. His wife was also in the pickup. The avoidance maneuver caused the F150 to contact an embankment, resulting in a rollover. The F150 landed on its roof. Although the couple were wearing their seat belts, the man was completely ejected and his wife partially ejected from the vehicle as it rolled over. The vehicle’s roof also collapsed. An autopsy revealed the man had suffered blunt force injuries that caused his death. The man’s wife badly lacerated her scalp.

According to Ammons, the F150 was not crashworthy in the event of a rollover because its roof was weak, its seat belts did not lock and remain locked, and its side windows were made of tempered glass that shattered and created portals for ejection. While Ford did not conduct dynamic rollover testing of its F series vehicles, it had access to the results of others’ testing that showed the F150’s roof was weak. Ford also had information from its seat belt vendor that suggested the belts used in the F150 may not effectively restrain occupants in their seats during rollover crashes. And Ford knew that side windows made of tempered glass were typically completely incapable of providing containment benefits to occupants in rollovers.

“Ford has long been absolutely aware that occupant containment is a basic principle in preventing injury to the motoring public. Despite information that gives Ford every reason to expect that the seat belts and side windows in many of its vehicles will not contain occupants in rollover crashes, it builds and sells vehicles, including the F150, with these inadequate and uncrashworthy components,” says Ammons.

The Ammons Law Firm is located in Houston, Texas and practices personal injury law, including cases involving: tire defects, oil rig explosions, truck accidents, plant explosions, refinery accidents, wrongful death, post-collision fires, seat belt defects, seatback defects, air bag defects, SUV rollovers and workplace negligence.