Ford Must Pay $82.6 Million To Rollover Victim

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July 25th, 2006

"$82.6 Million Paid to Ford Rollover Victim"

A California court of appeals ordered Ford Motor Company to pay a jury award of $82.6 million to a woman left paralyzed after a rollover accident in 2002.

In June 2004, Benetta Buell-Wilson and her husband were awarded $369 million, including $246 million in punitive damages, by a San Diego jury. The judgment was later reduced to $150 million by a trial court.

Ford filed a motion requesting further reduction of the award or a reversal of the verdict. The California Court of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District rejected the automaker''s motion to throw out the verdict but did reduce the judgment.

Buell-Wilson was a 46-year-old graduate student when her 1997 Ford Explorer flipped over on a California highway while trying to maneuver around an obstruction. The lawsuit claimed that the vehicle''s design made it prone to roll over even in everyday situations.

The 2004 verdict - the first handed down against Ford in a string of Explorer rollover lawsuits – was the second-highest award in an automobile products liability claim in U.S. history.