It’s arduous to consider that this large, blue slice of American exceptionalism might be hiding a lethal secret.Photograph: Tyler Clemmensen
A brand new class-action lawsuit filed on Tuesday within the U.S. District Courtroom for the Jap District of Michigan alleges that Ford has knowingly lowered the structural power of the roof of its Tremendous Obligation pickups all through the years, dramatically growing the danger of occupant damage in a rollover accident.
Editor’s word: This text has been up to date with a press release from Ford.
The go well with — filed by Hagens Berman, a regulation agency with a historical past of suing Ford — particularly states that Ford eliminated items of the roof and windshield construction and downgraded each the standard and thickness of the metal in these constructions in an effort to avoid wasting value. It additional claims this has been occurring for the reason that Tremendous Obligation was launched in 1999.
“Whereas we sometimes don’t touch upon energetic litigation, Ford Tremendous Obligation vans constantly meet or exceed business security requirements with roof power that meets or exceeds business customized and follow for design and efficiency,” mentioned a Ford consultant, in a press release. “Ford always innovates and has completed so for many years to cut back rollovers and improve passenger safety after they happen.”
Ford was just lately pressured to pay $1.7 billion to the household of Melvin and Voncile Hill of Georgia after they have been killed by a collapsing roof construction in a rollover accident of their 2002 F-250, so there’s a current case referring to this class-action go well with.
G/O Media could get a fee
60% off
Jachs NY Fall Sale 60% Off
Kinds beginning at $29 Layer up with Jachs NY’s fall sale—60% off fall types. Shirts begin at $29, and with the promo code, you possibly can curate an entire layered look.
“When the general public appears to be like at Ford’s historical past of refined, but impactful and plentiful design selections over the many years it has made these vans, a single storyline is evident: Ford has repeatedly chosen to degrade the structural capability and subsequently security of its vans, repeatedly, for sake of value financial savings,” mentioned Steve Berman, Hagens Berman co-founder and managing associate in a press release. “A learn of Ford’s selections is a redundant story of deletions and downgage of metal, lowering the thickness of important elements of the truck cab.”