Engineering Ethics

2002: Ford Explorer Rollover 139

to Frank Branson, a Texas lawyer who has often tangled with Ford, he

“can’t remember encountering a defendant who set about in a more

orchestrated way to conceal evidence from the public’s eye and from

disclosure in courtrooms.” Additionally, judges who have heard Ford

cases describe Ford’s courtroom conduct as “totally reprehensible,”

“disgusting,” “blatantly lied,” and “almost borders on the criminal.” Tom

Feahency, a Ford vice president in the 1970s and 1980s who now testifies

as an expert witness against Ford, agrees. “They’ve been an outstanding

practitioner of it [so that] an awful lot of plaintiffs go away” (Levin,

2004a).

With this litigation strategy, Ford literally settled hundreds of cases involv-

ing Explorer rollovers, and won 13 trials in which plaintiffs claimed Explorers

were defective because of rollover risk or inadequate roof risk. Recall that

Explorers with low static stability factors had been manufactured from 1990

until 2000. Not until June 2004 did Ford lose its first Explorer trial, in which a

jury found an Explorer was defective because of its instability and weak roof.

A jury awarded Benetta Buell-Wilson $246 million in punitive damages and

$122.6 million in compensatory damages, for a total of $368.6 million. In

January 2002, Buell-Wilson was paralyzed after she lost control of her 1997

Explorer (Levin, 2004b). Ford then lost three subsequent Explorer rollover

trials in August 2004; on March 1, 2005; and on March 18, 2005. Numerous

other lawsuits are pending.As an indication of total lawsuit size, Ford lawyers

acknowledged there were more than 1600 lawsuits or claims involving

Explorer rollovers before July 2000 (Plungis, 2005).

THE 2002 FORD EXPLORER

Between 1983 and 2001, 3,826 people were killed in Ford Bronco II or

Explorer rollovers (EWG, 2005a). In consideration of safety, the 2002

model Ford Explorer was completely redesigned. Its tires were larger, with

a higher recommended pressure, and it was 2.5 inches wider. The primitive

leaf-spring suspension dating back to buggies was replaced by carlike coil

springs, which improved braking and were more resistant to sideways

wheel movements. Frame rails were now enclosed, rather than shaped like

the letter “C,” which made the vehicle stiffer in general (Bradsher, 2000).

APPLICABLE REGULATIONS

California was one of plaintiffs in the $51.5 settlement related to

Ford Explorer false advertising claims, which were described at the

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