Detroit News — When Volvo engineers were designing the XC90 SUV, safety during rollovers was of upmost importance. The XC90 is an SUV of similar size and structure to the Ford Explorer and Ford Expedition. Ford Motor Company has taken the position that in SUV or truck rollover and roof crush lawsuits involving the Ford Explorer, Ford F150 pickup, Ford Escape, and Ford Expedition that stronger roofs do not have any connection to injury reduction.
Ford Motor Company's own subsidiary, Volvo, proves this contention to be false. Volvo performed what is known as "dynamic" testing whereby a vehicle was thrown into a roll to simulate real world rollover. Currently, US auto manufacturers do very little real world testing of the roof strength of its vehicles. Click here for discussion of current automotive manufacturer roof strength testing.
During the Volvo testing, the SUV's roof remained intact following the simulated rollover. The SUV was equipped with rollover sensors that activated seatbelt tighteners that kept crash test dummies in place. Side curtain air bags deployed, providing further protection to occupants' heads during the roll. At the end of the roll, the roof structure was in place and computer sensors revealed that no serious head trauma resulted to the crash dummies whatsoever.
In similar testing performed during lawsuits involving rollover, roof crush, and roof collapse against the Ford Explorer, Ford Escape, Ford Expedition, and Ford F150, the Ford roofs performed much worse. In fact, internal documents revealed that the Ford roofs have been weakened through various redesigns throughout the 1990s. This means that when there is a rollover involving a Ford vehicle (including Ford Explorer, Ford Expedition, Ford Escape, or Ford truck) that there is a likelihood to be roof crush or roof collapse, which can cause significant head or spinal cord trauma to its occupants.
It has been alleged in various lawsuits that the reason Ford takes weight out of the roof structure of its SUV and truck products (including the Ford Explorer, Ford Expedition, Ford Escape, and Ford F150 pickup trucks) is to save money and maximize fuel efficiency. Currently, the only federal standard (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 216) relating to roof tests, does not require any real world rollover conditions. As such, there are weaker roofs on Ford and other domestic manufacturers' pickups.
In the proposal, the agency also asked for comments on the possibility of requiring that seat belts be equipped with pre-tensioning devices to hold passengers more firmly in place when their vehicles flip over.
If you believe that you have been injured in a rollover or roof collapse related accident, contact Miller Weisbrod, LLP, for a free case assessment.
