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CASES & INVESTIGATIONS |
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GENERAL INFORMATION |
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Ford Rollover Accident - 2008 Update on Explorer Safety Issues |
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| The safety of the
Ford SUVs became a nationwide concern in 2000.
More than 200 deaths and 700 injuries in the
United States were blamed on Ford Explorers rolling
over after the tread separated on Firestone tires
with which the Explorers had been equipped. |
| In 2005, the Insurance
Institute for Highway Safety issued a report
finding that the two-door, two-wheel drive
Ford Explorer made between 1999 and 2002 had
the fourth highest rate of driver death of
the 47 SUVs that were part of the study. |
| In 2004, the Ford
Explorer SportTrac received the worst rollover
rating of any 2004 SUV model tested by
the government. |
| A number of potential
safety issues and vehicle defects can contribute
to the occurance of SUV rollovers and lead
to serious injury or death in the event of
a rollover accident. Potential safety issues
include: |
- The vehicle is defective in its handling
and stability because it is top-heavy and
prone to heavy oversteering by drivers,
making a rollover accident likely;
- The vehicle is equipped with defective
door latches that are too weak to hold
the doors shut in a rollover accident,
causing passengers to be ejected from these
vehicles;
- The roof-strength of the SUV is deficient,
resulting in a collapse of the roof in
a rollover accident;
- The vehicle is not equipped with laminated
safety glass which would help prevent passengers
from being ejected in SUV rollovers; and
- The seat belts are defective because
they do not automatically retract and tighten
during an accident.
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12/3/07 Case
Update:
The California Superior Court
granted preliminary approval to a settlement
in class action lawsuits by owners of
model year 1990-2001 Ford Explorers in
four states -- California, Illinois,
Texas and Connecticut -- against Ford
Motor Company alleging Ford made false
claims regarding the safety of these
Explorers. Learn more about the proposed
settlement and how to make claims. |
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| Lieff
Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein,
LLP represents persons
injured in vehicle accidents. Click
here to submit your
case. |
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In testing, many SUVs
with new stability control systems have a demonstrated
lower likelihood of rolling over in accidents.
Most SUVs sold in America, however, lack such systems.
SUVs could also be made more stable if their center
of gravity was lowered, the wheel track was widened,
and the roofs were strengthened. However, such
fundamental changes to an SUV's design are costly,
and automakers have often chosen less expensive
(and less effective) design modifications. |
| As explained by Joan
Claybrook, the head of the National Highway
Transportation Safety Administration ("NHTSA")
from 1977 to 1981: |
"The
fact is that rollovers not only are largely
preventable through design changes, they
also should be highly survivable, because
the forces involved are generally much lower
than in other types of collisions."
The reason we have so much carnage from rollovers is because of the design
choices that manufacturers have made and the lack of adequate federal standards
to force better designs. Seat structures are not designed to keep occupants
in place during a rollover, and vehicle roofs are so weak that they collapse,
crushing the heads and spines of occupants. As a result of collapsing roofs,
windshields and side windows break, providing ejection portals and further
weakening the roof and side structures. And finally, outdated, inadequate
seat belt systems fail." |
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review of your case. |
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have a nationwide
team of experienced auto
defect and car accident
lawyers assigned
to our vehicle injury
cases. |
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We
have retained leading
national car crash
and auto defect experts. |
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We
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Learn
more about our firm. |
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| In addition to rollover
risk, SUVs can pose a serious danger to passengers
in other vehicles involved in accidents with SUVs.
The large size of SUVs raise concerns that SUVs
or pickups dangerously ride atop smaller cars in
crashes and threaten passenger compartments. In
2003, automakers agreed to improve compatability
of vehicles to reduce the risk, and according to
a February 2006 report by the Insurance Institute
for Highway Safety, certain design changes in SUVs
made in recent years have made a difference. The
report states that the numbers of deaths of drivers
in cars caught in side-impact crashes with SUVs
dropped nearly 50 percent when automakers lowered
the height of SUVs or added impact-absorbing bars
below the front bumper. About six out of ten new
models of SUVs and pickups now have the design
changes and experts expect it to take several years
before older vehicles that lack the design are
no longer abundant on the road. |
| Injured drivers and passengers,
and the families of loved ones who have died in
rollover crashes, have brought claims against Ford
for negligence by producing a vehicle (whether
it is the Ford Explorer, Bronco, Expedition or
other Ford SUV) with an unreasonable risk of rolling
over. |
| The suits have also alleged
other defects with Ford SUVs, including that the
roofs are weak and should be strengthened to avoid
roof collapse and fatal head and neck injuries
in rollover accidents. |
| Lieff Cabraser represents
persons who have been injured or killed as a result
of Ford Explorer and other SUV accidents, whether
due to a rollover accident, crushed roof, door
latch problem, lack of laminated windows, seatbelt
failure, or a combination of these or other factors. Please click
here to contact a Lieff Cabraser attorney. |
| Alternatively, you may
call Lieff Cabraser toll-free at 1-866-313-1973
and ask to speak to partner Kathryn E. Barnett. |
| Californians who bought,
owned or leased 1991-2001 model year Ford Explorers
before August 9, 2000 may be affected by a class
action lawsuit. |
| Click
here to visit the official Court website for
California's Ford Explorer Cases class action
lawsuit. This is not a recall, or a case
about personal injuries or wrongful deaths. This
lawsuit is about whether Ford concealed a dangerous
design flaw that increases the tendency among
these Explorers to roll over, causing consumers
to buy or lease Explorers and pay more than what
they should have. URL: http://www.explorercasuit.com |
| Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein,
LLP, is a national law firm of over 50 lawyers with offices in San Francisco,
New York and Nashville. Our attorneys are recognized
for the successful prosecution of lawsuits involving deaths, personal injuries
and property damage due to defective products, including in the field of vehicle
safety. |
| In 2007, in the case
of Mraz
v. DaimlerChrysler, Lieff Cabraser
attorneys, with local co-counsel, obtained
the fourth largest verdict in California for
the year. At trial, plaintiffs showed that
a defective
transmission was responsible for making
a Dodge Dakota pickup shift into reverse and
run over Richard Mraz. |
| Currently, we are
prosecuting personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits involving cars, vans,
pickup trucks, SUVs, the Yamaha Rhino and other
vehicles. To learn more about the firm, click
here. |
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| Trademark Notice:
Vehicle Injuries.com is an electronic newsletter from Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein,
LLP, a national personal injury attorney | lawyer law firm. |
| Lieff Cabraser is not
affiliated in any way with any trademark owner. The use of any trademarks on
this site is for product identification and information purposes only. |
| About Lieff Cabraser:
Drivers and passengers injured in auto crashes and pickup truck and SUV rollover
accidents, or families of loved ones who died, may be eligible to file lawsuits
against other drivers at fault or against the manufacturer of their vehicle if
the accident was due to a safety defect. Safety defects can include a high risk
of rolling
over, tire tread
separation, seat
belt failures and other defects. Learn
more... |
| We have offices in San
Francisco, New York and Nashville.
Our car crash accident lawyers and auto accident attorneys have represented
clients in personal injury, auto accident, SUV rollover and vehicle safety defect
lawsuits across America, including persons living in Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas,
Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii,
Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland,
Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota,
Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma,
Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia,
Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Wyoming. |
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hiring of an auto accident lawyer is an important decision. Please read our attorney
advertising disclaimer. |
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| Copyright © 2008 Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein,
LLP |
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