Confidential
Key Details
Settlement Amount:
Confidential
Location:
Ohio
Practice Area:
Product Liability
Preview:
A woman suffered major injuries when her vehicle suddenly accelerated and struck a parking garage wall — her airbag failed to deploy and her seatbelt failed to lock, throwing her violently into the steering wheel.
Content:
The client suffered major injuries when, as she was entering her office parking garage, her vehicle suddenly and unexpectedly accelerated and struck a concrete wall at speed. At the moment of impact, both the vehicle's safety systems failed simultaneously: her airbag failed to deploy, and her seatbelt failed to lock.
These dual failures allowed her to be thrown violently into the steering wheel and instrument panel, causing serious injuries that prevented her from returning to work. Under circumstances where either the airbag or seatbelt had functioned as designed, the severity of her injuries would likely have been greatly reduced.
Represented by partner James A. Lowe, the family pursued Ford Motor Company for the product defects that caused the safety system failures. The parties reached a confidential settlement recognizing the company's responsibility for the harm caused by its defective safety components.
