Ford Settles 2001 Explorer Accident Suit for $131 Million

fiveltrdave says:

08:17 PM, 11/01/2010

WOW, whats next?? ANY SUV at driven at 80 mph in a reckless manner is likely to roll over!! The people on the jury must be totally clueless to how accidents happen in real life. What a bunch of BS.  

tbone85 says:

11:37 AM, 09/06/2010

ALL vehicles with a high center of gravity are prone to rollover during very high speed maneuvers. If you have a minivan, a crossover, a tall wagon, etc., do NOT make sudden turns at very high speeds. This is a limitation of design and physics, and it is inherently one of the trade offs we accept when buying such a vehicle.

ford_flexer says:

09:55 AM, 09/06/2010

i trust fords vehicles completly and i think that the passenger was wearing a seatbelt while the driver was not. i don't see how the explorer was prone too rollover when no one else reported this ford if i were you i would say they didn't deserve the money just a good way to get money off that guys death, and if i had payed the money it would have been somewhere in the hunred-thousands hmmmph what a rip off they were

firstwagon says:

03:15 PM, 09/05/2010

From the information we have here I see no way that Ford is responible at all.  The Suv was being driven in an unsafe manner and crashed because of this.  The fact that it rolled over at that point is no longer the fault of Ford.  You can roll anything under the right conditions.  If he had been driving at the speed limit around a curve and it rolled then there would be a case.

The driver was responible for his untimely end and the family is just going for the big lotto prize.

As for the gun argument, if it fired with the safety on it's still your fault.  If you know anything about guns you would know you always assume a gun is loaded and the safety is off.  Never point them at yourself or anyone else.  Period.

tbone85 says:

11:23 AM, 09/05/2010

"It could be the president's fault because he didn't throw out these stupid cases like he claimed. He's done so with others, I believe."

This is a lawsuit concerning 2 private parties. In our system of government, only the judiciary can throw out any case. It's not he President's fault that the citizens on the jury lost their common sense during these proceeding; he doesn't have the power throw out this case and could not have done so in other cases as you suggest.

"If I possessed the stupidity to shoot myself with a gun, I wouldn't have the pathetic, liberal, knee-jerk reaction to immediately blame it on someone else."

That's kinda what Trent Lott always used to say--before he sued his insurance company in the aftermath of Katrina. Blaming others and taking litigious action is a common reaction of tribalists from both sides of the spectrum, as well as those in the middle.

QDP, yes accounting for future earnings is typically the way that damage rewards are calculated. Doesn't make sense in all cases and is often unfair, but it is an established standard.

winst says:

10:30 AM, 09/05/2010

@supra4:

Here's my problem with your postings:

1.  You refuse to answer any of my reasonable questions
2.  You lie and combine me with other posters, putting words in my mouth
3.  You spew bullshit trying to sound intelligent while really just dodging questions

My simple point is that Ford should not be held 100% responsible, when obviously it was not 100% their fault.  Was a Ford Exec driving that vehicle?

I've wasted enough of my time arguing my points to you.  Keep typing out the word "Ignorance".  Whenever you accuse others of being ignorant it must really make you feel smart.

supra4 says:

10:40 PM, 09/04/2010

Winst:

First off, Judging from the length of your post and your personal attacks, I can see you have become personally involved (very emotional) in this discussion. Additionally, responding to everything in your rambling stream of consciousness post will take more time than I am willing to give.

"It's people like you who take away our individual rights and freedoms with their ignorance."

In response to the above quote: I am not the kind of person who takes away our civil liberties, I am the type of person who protects them. What's more, using ad hominem arguments demonstrates your own ignorance, and is not a very good way to convince myself or others that you are correct. If you really want to see my opinions about civil liberties, read my posts in this
article:

http://www.insideline.com/toyota/toyota-turns-to-black-box-readers-to-reassure-consumers.html

But lets say, for arguments sake, that it was not an ad hominem attack. Please write a rational argument for how my comments lead to the deterioration of individual rights and freedoms. lol

One of the many flaws in your logic, is that you believe that because the driver was speeding or because he caused (no one really knows why) the car to rollover, Ford is relieved of culpability. However there is something called comparative negligence. Look it up...

vantageman says:

05:19 PM, 09/04/2010

lol @offroadboy if you ever want a reason why people like me feel they have a reason to look down my nose at certain people its because of people like you. Your ignorance solidifies so many things about "groups" of people lol that I can do nothing more than laugh at your comments Im assuming you drive some Ford truck arent to far off of a Mullett and you look like a bad stereotype of the uneducated American( that typically is on welfare)...lol I can only laugh its such confirmation.

As far as the rest of the foolish comments here where should I begin for one your issue with Black people as witnessed by people always including Obama in everything first off has nothing to do with a CAR BLOG im sure there are plenty of self hating stereotype lower income people, uneducated that feel the same way you do go find a blog for that THIS ONE IS ABOUT CARS!!!.

Second if Ford would have built the car better than he would have had a GOOD CHANCE of being alive as an SUV isnt suppose to roll over Ford or not if Isuzu was knocked for it back than , than so should Ford. Lexus had to recall how many cars over this and someone dies as a direct cause of Fords typical lack of know how.  In fact I would bet if Edmunds wouldnt have put the picture up (in such poor taste guys based on your readers) than many here would have no problem at all either way if someone I know died as a result of a company's negligence I would want something as well Ford can get another 131 milllion that man cant get his life back majority of which is probably going to the lawyers.....aaaahh such ignorance..... so typical....

winst says:

11:40 AM, 09/04/2010

"How exactly is this President Obama's at fault? Seriously, whinst, Ns5, Stingray454, explain it to me. "

@supra4:

I don't recall blaming this on President Obama.  Although I wonder why you're so quick to put words in my mouth.  You don't know me or my political views so quit making false assumptions.

"Winst: If your weapon discharges on safety and you are hit, you would have to be an idiot not to sue. If you could not trust safety's how could you safely carry? Definitely not holstered or slung. Moreover that would be considered a negligent discharge in the Army and you would be subject to the UCMJ.
The speed limit is 80 in Utah and Texas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limits_in_the_United_States#Minimum_speed_limits"

Thank you for answering my question.  So it is legal to drive 80MPH somewhere, I'll take your word for it. (Although wikipedia is not a reputable source of information FYI and it is not legal to drive 80MPH anywhere in Florida)

But alas, you have no sense of sarcasm.  My point is that it'd be real easy for me to claim my safety was on even if it wasn't and the gun discharged.  You are NEVER supposed to point a loaded gun at anyone even if the safety is on, for that reason:  you can't necessarily put your full trust on anything, a seatbelt or a gun safety, which you would definitely expect and hope would work.  If it doesn't then you would have a reason to sue, but that doesn't mean it was 100% the gun manufacturer's fault the gun went off.  YOU loaded the gun. YOU pulled the trigger.  So you're both to blame.  The safety is supposed to work, but gun manufacturer's warn not to be wreckless anyway in case it is defective.  It's called BEING RESPONSIBLE.  I'd have to be an idiot if I shot myself on purpose, and then tryed to blame someone else.

So back to the real issue since you seem to love to make points that are, frankly pointless.  If you drive an SUV with a high center of gravity going roughly 80MPH (which is dangerous if you ask me especially if you're a dipshit who doesn't know how to drive), for some reason when the wheel turns 295 degrees the thing rolls, ( maybe he hit something, maybe he swerved, who knows)how is that Ford's fault?  I mean he was driving it wasn't he?  His cousin survived the accident because he was wearing his seatbelt.  My guess is that Brian wasn't.  But let's suppose he was wearing his seatbelt, and was ejected anyway, tell me:  Are seatbelts guaranteed to work at those speeds?  Do you know the amount of force involved in that kind of crash?  

Brian Cole should have been found guilty of contributory negligence for speeding, whether or not he was wearing his seatbelt.  Mississippi juries are notorious for huge, totally unwarranted verdicts and this is one.

Excerpt from aol Article:

"Turner said the family made two claims: the Explorer was unstable and its safety belts didn't work in rollovers.

"That permitted Brian Cole to be thrown out of the car during the rollover despite being belted," he said.

Evans said Ford blamed speeding and reckless driving for the accident.

"Brian Cole had been driving over 80 mph when he drifted off road for unknown reasons, suddenly turned his steering wheel 295 degrees, lost control, and caused the vehicle to roll over more than three times," Evans said. "He was not wearing his safety belt and died after being ejected from the vehicle. His passenger, who was properly belted, walked away from the accident."  "

http://autos.aol.com/article/Ford-Brian-Cole-Rollover/

So eventhough the explorer's seatbelt saved Brian's cousin, the family's attorney still argued that the explorer's seatbelts don't work in rollovers.  What Bullshit if you ask me.

Cole was speeding, we don't even know if he was properly belted, (he could have purposely slipped the seatbelt behind his back to be more comfortable) and he was driving recklessly.

Say he was wearing his seatbelt properly, which there is no absolute proof he was (bruising could have been pre-existing we really don't have enough information on this) It doesnt mean it's guaranteed to work.

@supra4:  It's people like you who take away our individual rights and freedoms with their ignorance.  Next thing you know, because of people with idiotic lawsuits like these, we'll have lower governers on our cars so we can't go as fast as we want which IMO is an infringement on anyone who likes driving too fast.  Gotta love safety!  

Saying the explorer was unstable is just idiotic.  It's an Suv.  Do you expect it to hug the road?  Would you like it if the government banned all suvs because they are unstable?  Is that really anything you want the government controlling?  If so, then it sounds like you really want to give the government all of your personal freedoms, one thing at a time.

It's ludacris that 100% of the blame be put on Ford.  I'm glad Brian didn't kill anyone else with his recklessness.  In Fact, his recklessness prevented him from incurring wealth, because he was irresponsible.  Therefore, his family in my opinion didn't deserve the money from his potential future earnings.  I don't care if Ford's seatbelt was defective.  Seatbelts can't always save you from your own recklessness as this case shows.

@supra4:  Do you think it was fair that 100% of the blame be Ford's?  Do you think there was no driver fault here?  Is it Ford's fault because they sold an idiot an suv that can go 80Mph and isn't stable at that speed when HE turned the wheel 295 degrees?!  Do you expect any vehicle going 80mph to not flip over when you swerve like that?!?!  Given the information we have, how can you possibly agree with the jury's verdict?  It was horribly biased against Ford.  Anyone who believes what the legal system does in lawsuits like these is fair, is in fact stupid.  You must be the ultimate buck passer supra4.

Some lawsuits are reasonable, But People who sue others because they don't want to take personal responsibility for their own actions should be taken out in the street and shot with a gun WITHOUT the safety on.  

This lawsuit seems to be anything but reasonable to anyone with half a brain.