Court won’t disturb $82.6M award in SUV rollover

December 1, 2009

The Supreme Court has left in place an $82.6 million award to a woman who was paralyzed after her Ford Explorer rolled over.

 

The justices on Monday rejected Ford Motor Co.’s challenge to the portion of the award, $55 million, that was intended as punitive damages. Ford argued that it should not be punished because its design of the vehicle met federal safety standards.

 

A California state appeals court earlier rejected Ford’s contention and upheld the award to Benetta Buell-Wilson.

 

She was driving on an interstate east of San Diego in January 2002 when she swerved to avoid a metal object and lost control of her 1997 Explorer, which rolled 4 1/2 times. The mother of two was paralyzed from the waist down when the roof collapsed on her neck, severing her spine.

 

Read Article: The Washington Post

 

Posted By: Phoenix Arizona Phoenix Personal Injury Attorneys

Toyota recalls gas pedals

To quell rising consumer worries from its largest ever recall, Toyota Motor Corp. will shorten the gas pedal and install a new brake system on some of 3.8 million vehicles recalled because of the risk they may accelerate without warning.

 

The problem, which allegedly has caused more than a dozen fatalities and resulted in more than 100 formal complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, has presented the most serious challenge yet to Toyota’s reputation as the auto industry’s quality leader.

 

Wednesday’s announcement came one day after Toyota recalled 110,000 Tundra pickup trucks from model years 2000 through 2003 which have experienced underbody rust that in some cases may loosen spare tires mounted beneath the trucks.

 

Read Article: Detroit Free Press

 

Posted By: Arizona Phoenix Construction Site Accident Lawyer

Faulty Chinese drywall causes corrosion, federal study says

What thousands of homeowners in South Florida and nationwide have believed about Chinese drywall was validated Monday when the Consumer Product Safety Commission said there is a link between the imported material and problems with corrosion in homes that have it. But the agency also said they don’t believe the problems are as widespread as early estimates predicted.

 

The conclusion followed testing at 51 homes in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Virginia that found “a strong association between the problem drywall, the hydrogen sulfide levels in homes with that drywall and corrosion in those homes.”

 

Homeowners have been complaining for about a year to federal and state government agencies that their homes smell of sulfur or rotten eggs, the copper in their air-conditioning units and electrical wires in their homes are corroding and that other metals are turning black. They have also reported problems breathing, headaches and nosebleeds.

 

Read Article: Miami Herald

 

Posted By: Arizona Phoenix Catastrophic Injury Attorney

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