Q: My mother and sister where recently involved in an auto accident with their 2002 Ford Escape. It was a head-on collision when they where turning and they where hit on the right side front of the vehicle.
The police report I believe states the other driver was traveling at 50mph. My mother was knocked unconsious and received several small injuries, my sister hurt her neck and other injuries as well.
This vehicle is equiped with 6 airbags and not one of them deployed. Can you advise me what their legal rights might be in a case like this?
--John
Attorney Cliff Horwitz:
Products liability law controls here. The air bags may have been defective here. They may not have been defective. This is the question. However, even if they are defective, Ford is likely to escape liability even though their expensive product didn't do what you paid for it to do.
Why? Prosecution of this type of case will cost your attorney at least $100,000 and probably $200,000.00 in costs alone. Fighting a billion dollar powerhouse corporation is expensive. Attacking their main product line is expensive. They will defend it with no concern for you and your sister. They will defend it with unlimited funds.
No attorney will prosecute it for you unless your injuries are very severe and permanent. The attorney cannot be blamed here. If he took such cases, he would find himself out of business relatively quickly.
Hence, you lose, your attorney loses (but that's not as important) and Ford wins.
Now you can see how it might be profitable for a major corporation to manufacture defective products. Wouldn't you say?
And, guess who pays ... you and your sister.