Ford has been ordered to pay nearly R153 million to a 12-year-old girl after a court ruled that the company was responsible for the rollover accident in which she was paralysed.
Ford has been ordered to pay nearly R153 million to a 12-year-old girl after a court ruled that the company was responsible for the rollover accident in which she was paralysed.
The jury in Miami found Ford liable for improperly installing the air valve on the right-rear Goodyear tyre of the family’s rented Econoline E-350 van.
The tyre blew on a highway causing the vehicle to roll and paralysing Mary Jimenez and killing an aunt who was also in the car. The family was on its way from Jacksonville to Disney World near Orlando in May 1999.
The jury did, however, take into account that Jimenez was not wearing her seatbelt and the money is mainly for medical costs.
“I expect there will be more quality control,” said the victim’s father, Ramon Philip Jimenez. “There are other families out there who put their trust in Ford, so they should check things more carefully.”
Jimenez said the money would help the family afford expensive physical therapy to help Mary regain some of her motor skills. “She has to relearn everything: how to walk, how to use her hands, how to stand, how to run,” he said.
Ford is expected to appeal against the verdict. The American manufacturer has been blamed for numerous deaths and injuries related to problems on the Firestone tyres on the Explorer. It is still facing lawsuits in many of these cases.
