Ford Motor Co. lost a personal injury lawsuit when a Californian woman got into a car accident in her 1997 Ford Explorer The road traffic accident resulted in serious injuries for Cynthia Castillo, who was rendered quadriplegic by the accident.
While driving down the freeway, her left-rear tire detreaded. This caused the Ford Explorer to become unstable and left Castillo unable to control the vehicle. Brian Brandt, her attorney, said the SUV veered off the road and rolled down an embankment three times, leaving Castillo’s legs, as well as much of her body paralyzed. Brandt claimed that design flaws in the Explorer causes it to lose control when the tire tread separates.
Castillo’s attorneys provided evidence that Ford’s management had refused to pay for safety improvements in Explorers, despite Ford engineers having found ways to improve their stability.
Ford’s attorney, Warren Platt, countered that the worn-out tire Castillo put on her vehicle was to blame, and that design flaws had nothing to do with the accident.
The jury reached a unanimous verdict in Castillo’s favour. She was awarded $23.4 million in compensation for her pain and suffering, as well as for her medical care. $10 million of it was for her suffering and loss of enjoyment of life, while the other $13.4 million was for medical expenses caused by the accident. Ford was found 91.5% at fault for the accident, while 7% of the fault was placed on a tire retailer and the remaining 1.5% was placed on Cynthia Castillo.
Ford has stated it plans to appeal this decision. However, Ford has yet to make an appeal.
