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Jury Awards Ford Explorer Rollover Victim $369 Million

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June 3, 2004
A San Diego jury has awarded a woman paralyzed in a Ford Explorer rollover $246 million in punitive damages, in addition to $122 million in compensatory damages. It is the first of about a dozen Explorer rollover cases that Ford has lost.

Plaintiff Benetta Buell-Wilson, 49, had asked for up to $27 million in compensatory damages. Instead the jury awarded her a total of $369 million. She has offered to waive $100 million of the punitive damages if Ford agrees to recall Explorers made between 1990 and 2001 to fix roof defects in those models.

Ford is likely to file motions to have the jury awards set aside. It could also try to negotiate a lower settlement with the plaintiff.

Buell-Wilson's lawyers argued that Ford had ignored the advice of its own engineers and designed the Explorer with safety flaws that made it prone to roll over.

Jurors hugged Buell-Wilson as they left the courtroom after the trial, press reports said. One juror said the evidence proved that Ford went out of its way to deceive the public on the safety of the Explorer.

Buell-Wilson was injured in January 2002. She was driving her 1997 Explorer on Interstate 8 when she swerved to avoid an object in the roadway. The Explorer tipped up on two wheels and rolled over. The roof caved in, breaking her back and leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. Her attorney said she is in constant pain.

Explorers made between 1990 and 2001 have a high center of gravity and a narrow wheel base, making them susceptible to rollovers during sharp maneuvers, said her attorney, Lou Arnell.

Buell-Wilson said that when she bought her Explorer she told the dealer that safety was her No. 1 concern.

"They said it was a very safe car," she testified.

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