Image: Ford
In the summer, a Georgia judge ordered Ford Motor Company to pay the largest settlement in state history, $1.7 billion. The lawsuit is the culmination of nearly 20 years of litigation over the safety of the Super Duty pickup’s roof. A Wall Street Journal report found that before the nearly $2 billion settlement, Ford settled dozens of other roof-related cases and several deaths over the years while arguing that its trucks were safe.
The case involves Super Duty pickups manufactured between 1999 and 2016 and alleges that rollover accidents can cause the roof to fail and collapse, resulting in serious injury, including paralysis or death of passengers.
WSJ found that the Blue Oval had been sued 58 times over a 17-year period. Of those 58 suits, 38 people died in Super Duty pickup accidents. Others, WSJ says, were seriously injured, including “people who were paralyzed or paraplegic.” Ford has settled 43 of those 58 lawsuits – but the details are unknown or confidential. One of Ford’s attorneys says the company won only four of those lawsuits. Even if the numbers obviously speak against the automaker, he argues that no conclusions should be drawn from them. “I don’t think it’s fair to draw any conclusions about the cause of the accident or the cause of the injuries based on allegations. ”
The latest $1.7 billion settlement comes after the deaths of elderly couple Melvin and Voncile Hill in 2014. A ruptured tire on their 2002 F-250 caused the truck to overturn. The Hills’ attorneys argued that the roof failed, knocking the couple out. Ford argues that the accident was the couple’s fault and that the tire rupture was caused by “incorrect load capacity.” Although the family’s attorney said Ford tried to settle with them, as in many other cases, about the safety of the truck’s cab roofs. But the couple’s son had heard about the other incidents and wanted the case to go to court.
Now the Ford is seeking a new trial, citing it was unable to properly defend itself due to “sanctions” from the judge. Ford plans to argue that the roofs on its Super Duty trucks are as safe as the company designed them to be, although the deaths, injuries and comparisons say otherwise.