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Ford loses $225 million Texas verdict in door-latch case

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#1 ·
December 17, 2002
BY MARGARET CRONIN FISK
BLOOMBERG

SAN DIEGO -- Ford Motor Co. was ordered by a Texas jury to pay $225 million to the families of an assistant high school football coach and a student who died after being thrown from the pickup truck in which they were riding.

The case was the first to go to trial involving allegedly defective roof and door latches in Ford's F-150 extended-cab pickup truck, said Ford and lawyers for the plaintiffs. The truck rolled over on July 26, 2001, in the southern Texas town of Benavides, killing Paul Alaniz, 35, the driver, and his passenger, Laura Benavides, 20. The jury awarded $110 million to Alaniz's family and $115 million in behalf of Benavides.

"I would not expect this one award to tank the stock price," said Mike Wall, an analyst with IRN Inc., an automotive consulting firm in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Ford declined to say whether there are similar suits alleging defective door latches.

The verdict on Friday is the largest compensatory damage award in a personal injury or wrongful death claim against Ford, the second largest automaker, both sides said. In 1999, a California jury awarded $290 million in punitive damages in the deaths of a couple and their 16-year-old son who were killed when their Bronco sport utility vehicle rolled over.

The Texas "accident was survivable if the doors stayed closed," said Jeff Wigington of Corpus Christi, the lawyer for Alaniz.

Drinking and Speeding

Ford denied the doors were defective and said the driver had been drinking and speeding. The deaths could have been avoided if the victims were wearing seatbelts, said Ford spokeswoman Kathleen Vokes.

"This accident is a tragic reminder that people should not drink and drive and that seatbelts can save lives only when they are worn," she said.

Wigington said the doors lack adequate structural support and become unlatched in rollovers.

Ford's F-series of pickup trucks, including the F-150, is its best-selling model in the U.S. It sold 740,817 F-Series through November, down 11 percent from a year ago, according to Autodata Corp. The F-150 accounts for about 60 percent of F-Series sales, Ford has said. The four-door Super Cab involved in the Texas accident was introduced in 1999.

Ford shares rose 18 cents to $9.88 at 2:43 p.m. in composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
 
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#2 ·
Ford to appeal $225 mln wrongful death award

DETROIT, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co. <F.N> said on Monday it would appeal a $225 million wrongful death award handed down by a Texas jury last week over the deaths of two people in an accident involving one of its popular F-150 pickup trucks.

"We will be appealing it," Ford spokeswoman Kathleen Vokes said of the claim against the world's second-largest automaker.

Plaintiffs in the case alleged that defective roof and door latches contributed to the deaths of Paul Alaniz, 35, and Laura Benavides, 20, when the F-150 extended-cab pickup they were riding in rolled over during an accident in southern Texas in July last year.

But Vokes said no defect had been found in the truck, which is part of a vehicle lineup that leads the world in sales.

"Our condolences go out to the families involved but this accident was caused by a speeding driver losing control of his vehicle," Vokes said.

"This accident is another tragic reminder that people should not drink and drive and that seatbelts can save lives only when they are worn," she added.

During the trial, Ford lawyers maintained that Alaniz was drunk and speeding when the accident happened and that neither he nor Benavides were wearing seatbelts.

The jury verdict, handed down last Friday in San Diego, Texas, is among the largest single damage claims that Ford has ever been ordered to pay.
 
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