Ford Motor Company Ordered To Pay $6.5 Million In Rollover Case Where Man Suffered Brain Damage

Amy Rothschild

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In 2004, Ruben Zamora, an oil field worker who was disabled prior to the accident, lost control of a 1993 Ford Motor Company Explorer sports utility vehicle when a tire lost its tread. The Explorer rolled over and the 41 year old driver was ejected from the vehicle. Ruben Zamora lost control of the 1993 Explorer when a tire lost its tread and was ejected from the vehicle as it rolled over. Mr. Zamora suffered severe brain damage as a result of the accident and will need lifetime care.

Mr. Zamora's mother who sued on his behalf said that the tire tread separations set off vibrations in the rear of the vehilce that made it slide sideways becuase of a defect in the vehicle's suspension. ``The tires get to bouncing severely and the back end swings around,'' causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle, Zamora's attorney, Bill Neumann, said today in a phone interview. ``They've known about the problem for years and failed to fix it.''

On February 1, 2007, a La Salle County jury in Texas agreed with the victim's mother and held that the Explorer was defective defective and awarded $10 million in damages. The jury also found that because Mr. Zamora was 35 percent at-fault for the accident, the $10 million jury verdict was reduced by 35 percent leaving a verdict of $6.5 million against Ford.

Ford stated that it plans to appeal the verdict claiming that Mr. Zamora was not properly belted when the vehicle rolled over. It appears that a prior owner had somehow modified the seatbelt system. Ford believes that the verdict will be further reduced because of a prior settlement with another defendant in the lawsuit.

Ford, the second largest automobile manufacturer in the United States, sold 137,817 Explorers last year, a 23 percent decline from 2006. Ford sold more than 400,000 Explorers in 2002. Honda Motor Co.'s smaller CR-V surpassed Explorer in 2007 as the top- selling sport-utility vehicle.