Feb. 18, 2019—An Alabama man paralyzed in a crash in 2015 has been awarded $151 million in a lawsuit against Ford Motor Company, reported WSFA.
Friday, a Dallas County, Ala., jury found the defendant, Ford Motor Company, at fault for a rollover crash of a 1998 Ford Explorer that left Travaris “Tre” Smith paralyzed. In Aug. 2015, Smith was a passenger in the 1998 Explorer traveling through Dallas County. The driver swerved to elude an animal crossing their path and ended up losing control of the vehicle. The vehicle rolled over twice before landing right side up, according to the report.
According to a release sent by Smith's lawyers. the 1998 Ford Explorer was previously at the center of two “historic” safety recalls due to its defective design. The model continuously failed the Consumer Union testing because it was prone to rolling over, and company engineers advised that Ford needed to change the Explorer’s design, but the motor vehicle company refused.
