The role of speed in a roll-over
December 1, 2005 14:28

Speed plays a key role in vehicle rollovers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has estimated that 75% of fatal vehicle roll-overs occur when the posted speed limit is 55 miles per hour or higher. Often the car is travelling at or above that speed.

In the case of Davis v. Honda, the judge has made secret the order which held that Mr. Gratzinger had destroyed evidence. "This extrodinary secrecy order is stopping crash victims from challenging Mr. Gratzinger's credibility," said TLPC Staff Attorney Recbecca E. Epstein, "People left in wheelchairs by crashes must sit in silence while Mr. Gratzinger testifies for big auto-makers." Ford, Mazda, Honda, and Toyota are using Mr. Gratzinger as an expert.

The Center for Auto Safety wishes for this information to be made public. The public deserves to know what tactics are being used by these auto manufacturers to hide their wrongful conduct. For example, Mr. Gratzinger has involvement in the case of Maxwell v., Ford Motor Company where a Ford F150 pick-uptruck killed Bettye Maxwell's husband. In this case, Gratzinger was used by Ford as an expert, but the judge prevented his cross examination about his conduct in the Davis case.

A motion challenging the secrecy order can be found at: http://www.tlpj.org.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 1, 2005 by TLPJ and Public Citizen




WASHINGTON, D.C. - Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ), representing Public Citizen, filed a legal challenge today to a Florida court order sealing crucial exhibits from a rollover case decided last spring over fatal injuries caused by the popular Ford Explorer SUV.



The documents show that throughout the late 1990s, Ford successively weakened the roof of its Ford Explorer and that the vehicle has an extremely low margin of safety in rollover crashes. Testing documents from Volvo, which became a Ford subsidiary in 2000, also demonstrate that a strong roof can protect occupants in a rollover, and that, in developing its SUV, the XC-90, Volvo used a much stronger dynamic test to examine roof strength and the interaction of safety systems in a rollover.



The public interest in these documents is acute because of the 10,000 people who die each year in rollover crashes and because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is considering a proposal to improve its roof strength safety standard for vehicles. What automakers know about injury prevention in rollovers should be fully disclosed and made part of the public record in NHTSA's pending rulemaking, which could affect vehicle safety for decades.



The documents show that Ford made the Explorer's roof treacherously weak, and that Volvo has outlined a solution for all automakers that would prevent the ongoing tragedy of needless deaths in rollover crashes. The time has come for Ford to come clean about its role in rollover deaths, especially now that new roof crush safety standards are being drawn up.



Scott Duncan sued Ford after Duncan's 26-year-old wife, Claire, died in May 2001 when their Explorer rolled over. The case resulted in a $10.2 million jury award and revealed stunning new evidence showing Ford's extensive knowledge of how stronger roofs can prevent rollover injuries and deaths. Central to the case were crash-test videos, test reports and internal documents made public during the four-week trial. The Volvo documents showed that strengthening an SUV's roof would save lives. They also showed that Ford had made the Explorer's roof weaker, leaving its roof-strength-to-vehicle-weight ratio only a slim margin above the 35-year-old federal safety standard.



Ford did not move to seal the Volvo documents at the time they were admitted at trial, nor for weeks afterward. In fact, after the trial concluded, the documents were widely disseminated.





"To protect the safety of families who travel Americas highways in SUVs, Florida's Sunshine Law and the First Amendment require that the shroud of secrecy be lifted from this key evidence," said TLPJ's Leslie Brueckner, "lead counsel for Public Citizen. As the jury in this case found, the Ford Explorer is a public hazard, and these documents prove it. Public safety demands that this evidence come to light."





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Trial Lawyers for Public Justice is the only national public interest law firm dedicated to using trial lawyers’ skills and resources to advance the public good. Founded in 1982, TLPJ utilizes a nationwide network of more than 3,000 outstanding trial lawyers to pursue precedent setting and socially significant litigation. It has a wide ranging litigation docket in the areas of consumer rights, worker safety, civil rights and liberties, toxic torts, environmental protection, and access to the courts. TLPJ is the principal project of The TLPJ Foundation, a not for profit membership organization. It has offices in Washington, DC, and Oakland, CA. TLPJ's State Coordinators for Florida are James L. Ferraro, 305 375-0111 and Stacey D. Mullins, 561-395-0000. The TLPJ web site address is www.tlpj.org.




Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.citizen.org.

Mazda Motor Corp issued a recall by halting the sale and production of the 2006 Mazda5 crossover. There is apparently a build up of heat in the exhaust system which is leading to fire potential. Two thousand vehicles have been recalled. Hundreds others have been pulled off of car lots. Three fires have already been reported.

"This sealed evidence shows that, while Ford's own subsidiary Volvo has devoted tremendous resources to looking for ways to prevent needless deaths in rollover crashes, Ford has spent years making the Explorer's roof treacherously and progressively weaker. Yet, shamelessly, Ford is now running a commercial in which its Volvo subsidiary's safety record is used to burnish Ford's tarnished safety image. Ten thousand people die each year in rollover crashes. What automakers know about injury prevention in rollovers should be fully disclosed and part of the public record in NHTSA's pending rulemaking, which could affect vehicle safety for decades. Consumers have the right to know what the jury in Duncan found: that the Ford Explorer is a public hazard, and the Duncan documents prove it. "



Arthur Bryant

Executive Director

Trial Lawyers for Public Justice
& The TLPJ Foundation

According to the court filings, Gary Skinner of Graysville, Alabama died on July 28, 2005. His wife, Angela, lost her 48-year-old husband in a rollover accident.

The cause of the accident was a blown out tire. When his 1999 Ford Ranger blew a tire, Gary lost control and the car rolled over, the roof crushed his head, causing a fatal injury.





Public internal documents show that the FORD and the industry knew as early as 1966 that their roof design was weak. But at a low cost, they could have fixed it. Don't you think that Gary and his wife would have paid an extra $50 to make their truck safe?



According to Public Citizen, Ford could have fixed this defect for as little as $43.13. Instead, they chose to hide this information and continue selling dangerous vehicles.



ATLA says, "The National Highway Transportation Safety Agency (NHTSA) has also chosen to do as little as possible to protect the lives of individuals like Gary. Under the Transportation Equity Act of 2005, Congress directed NHTSA to establish rules to reduce deaths and injuries caused by vehicle rollover accidents and to specifically propose a new standard for how strong a vehicle's roof must be" in a recent statement about the trial.

Kia has recalled 70,000 LD Spectra Sedans due to a computer glitch that can cause an airbag to malfunction when a child car seat is being used. The recall began in 10/2005 and involved the 2004-2005 model years. Kia uses the same airbag platform as the Hyundai Elantra which announced a similar recall.

300,000 cars are being recalled for a potential defect. Model year 2005 Jeep, Dodge, & Mitsubishi - Liberty, Wrangler, 300, Mangnum, Dakota, & Raider vehicles equiped with certain six-cylander engines and automatic engines may prevent the driver from getting the car into park. The shifter is not working correctly. Owners are advised to use the parking brake to be certain car will not move when parked.

Drivers are being urged to remove key from ingition and to apply emergency parking break when exiting the vehcile, so that the vehicle does not lerch or move.

The gas engine in certain Pirus cars is shutting down due to an electical problem. The electric motor may continue to function. No injuries have been reported at this time.

Ford Motor Company was held responsible for the death of a 16-year old when the car she was driving (a Ford F-150) rolled over and the roof crush caused her to slip into a coma, which eventually led to her death 18 days later. Ford claimed she was not wearing her seatbelt, but police records and investigation shwo that she was wearing her seat belt.

Ford knew the Explorer was prone to rolling over and failed to warn or protect occupants. A woman was ejected from the vehcile and died. The ejection occurred due to the Explorer rolling over. The case was tried in South Carolina in front of Judge Partick Michael Duffy.

Firestone's tire recdall of August 2000 and the related Ford replacement program in 2001 have caused Firestone to pay $240 million to Ford to compensate for the losses suffered by Ford in the replacement program.

"A Washington auto-safety group launched a new effort Thursday to unseal safety tests from Ford Motor Co.'s Volvo division, saying the tests highlight flaws in a new standard for vehicle roof strength backed by federal regulators and automakers. While the contents of the documents are well known, safety advocates say making them publicly available would force the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to rethink its new rule for how well car and truck roofs should protect people in rollovers. Ford, which has fought legal battles in several states over the documents, contends they reveal trade secrets and should remain hidden from public view. Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, filed a motion Thursday in a Florida state court to release the documents. They were made public briefly earlier this year, in a trial in which a jury ordered Ford to pay $10.2 million for a woman's death in a Ford Explorer rollover accident. The judge in the case ordered the documents resealed, but not before several groups received copies." Justin Hyde, Detroit Free Press, 12/2/05

"Fasten your seat belt. The Bush administration 's proposal to require that vehicle roofs be made stronger -- in hopes of reducing deaths and injuries from rollover accidents -- promises to be as bumpy a regulatory ride as the implementation of air bags in cars and trucks. Despite the sobering statistics, the proposal calls for only a modest increase in roof strength, inclusion of large sport-utility vehicles and vans, and protection for car manufacturers from lawsuits brought by victims of rollovers in which the roof is involved." Cindy Skrzycki, Washington Post, 12/6/05

"A Miami jury recently awarded $61 million, including $60 million for pain and suffering, to the family of a teenager killed in a rollover accident involving a Ford Explorer. Lance Crossman Hall was 17 years old in April 1997, riding in the front passenger seat of the 1996 SUV when his friend dozed off at the wheel, lost control of the vehicle and rolled it over four times. Hall was hurled from the SUV and died at the scene. Hall's family argued that poor handling and stability caused the rollover, that Ford knew about those problems and that the company did nothing to correct the design or warn consumers. 'What's significant about this is that it is the first time Ford is being held accountable for handling and stability issues without it involving tire failure,' said Bruce Kaster [ATLA Member], one of the family's attorneys. 'This case had to do with handing design defects inherent in Explorers manufactured up until 2001.'" Natalie White, Lawyers Weekly, 12/5/05

You expect a child safety seat to protect your child. But many do not work well enough. The well designed child seats do protect children and prevent many injuries. But most companies do the bare minimum in complying with regulations that apply to child safety.

Further, companies have done verything in their power to minimize the standards. For example, NHTSA retracted standards after the industry hired a former NHTSA chief counsel to oppose the standards.

For example side impact crashes still provide a huge risk to children.

There are a number of safety seat issues. Infant seats cover children less than a year old. Most use a 3-point harness.

Convertible seats can face forward or backward. They usually go up to 35 pounds backwards and 65 pounds forwards. They often have a 5 point restraint system. Others have a tray shield. Tray shields can be dangerous and can cause spinal cord injuries when a head hits the tray after a collision.

Combination seats face forward. They usually cover children up to 40 pounds. There are two modes, one of which is called BOPB - belt positioning mode. In BPB mode, they can handle up to 100 pound children. There are also backless BPBs. These do not provide much rotection in the case of side impact. In those cases, severe head and neck injuries can result.

Shield boosters can go as high as 65 pounds. These can result in ejection from the car, with death or serious injury resulting.