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November 15, 2005

APPELLATE DECISIONS IN ROLLOVER CASES

In light of NHTSA’s current FMVSS 216 rulemaking concerning vehicle roof crush in rollovers, two recent appellate court opinions in cases involving SUV rollover injuries are of particular relevance, especially in view of NHTSA's proposal to bar lawsuits in injury cases involving roof crush of SUVs and other vehicles meeting its new standard. (For more information about the rulemaking, see the October "Current Developments" archive and the item below, "NHTSA Conceals Volvo-Ford Roofcrush Docs".) The appellate opinions are as follows:

 

--McCathern v. Toyota, in which an Oregon jury found that a Toyota 4Runner SUV was defective due to what a plaintiff’s expert testified was “a very high rollover rate commensurate with its low stability.” The jury awarded damages for the “severe permanent injuries” sustained by Linda McCathern the 1994 Toyota 4Runner in which she was a passenger rolled over. Toyota appealed the decision to the Oregon Court of Appeals and, losing there, to the Oregon Supreme Court, where again it lost. Both decisions are shown.

 

--Ammerman v. Ford, in which Lana and Pamela Ammerman sustained severe and permanent injuries when a 1986 Bronco II 4x4 in which they were passengers rolled over. An Indiana jury found that the Bronco was unreasonably unstable and therefore defective, and awarded the Ammerman’s punitive damages, which Ford appealed. The Indiana Court of Appeals upheld the award, noting evidence showing that Ford’s own engineers had attempted to have the company approve a less hazardous design. It agreed that the “continued push to production of this product after all of the internal protestation to the contrary, is the crassest form of corporate indifference to the safety of the ultimate user or consumer and constitutes gross negligence.” The Indiana and U.S. Supreme Courts refused to hear Ford’s appeal from this decision.

Posted by MVHAP at November 15, 2005 03:49 PM