A Ford Explorer carbon monoxide lawsuit has recently been reached in a U.S. courtroom involving the popular vehicle. The car’s owner was seeking a settlement due to the problems caused by the carbon monoxide poisoning.
Ford Explorer Carbon Monoxide Lawsuit
According to the complaint, a Ford Explorer was driving down a rural road when it became overheated and then exploded. The accident caused the vehicle to burn so severely that the roof almost fell off and the truck driver was trapped inside. The owner of the car sustained serious burns and was able to recover from his injuries. In recent years, increasing numbers of people have been injured or killed in minor accidents that involved Ford vehicles. Many times the source of the poisoning is unclear and victims are left with lifelong medical conditions as a result of the exposure to carbon monoxide. Unfortunately, in such cases, the vehicle owner has very little legal recourse because the manufacturer has often failed to warn owners about the risk of such hazards.
In response to this lawsuit, the maker of Ford vehicles, Ford Motor Company, has offered a voluntary recall to Explorer and Focus vehicles. Ford will only acknowledge that it is recalling the vehicles, not towing them off the road, removing fuel injectors or changing spark plugs. The safety concern for Ford Explorer and Focus owners has now been elevated to a higher level as a result of the latest incident.
This is just one example of the rising number of recalls and defects associated with Ford vehicles. In many instances, the company has either conducted limited engineering analysis to determine the cause of the defect or has waited until the issue became well known before conducting further analysis. In the case of the Explorer, the defect was identified during the manufacturing process. The company conducted an engineering analysis to determine if the excessive wear and tear resulted in leaks and carbon monoxide leaks. That information was insufficient to conclude that the defect was the result of the engine compartment exhaust.
As a result of this failure to conduct engineering analysis to find the cause of the leak, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a lawsuit against Ford. The EPA determined that the Ford vehicles manufacture inadequate air filters that prevent carbon monoxide leaks. The lawsuit also pointed to the lack of engineering controls to detect and prevent leaks, which allowed the emissions from the Ford vehicles to continue unabated despite the presence of high levels of carbon monoxide in the exhaust odors and emissions from the fuel system. The Class Action Lawsuit against Ford was later dropped by the courts.
In the case of Explorer Carbon Monoxide Lawsuit, the plaintiff was not a Ford Explorer driver but was a passenger in one of the Ford police vehicles during an incident on a Sunday night in March 2021. At the time, the defendant was traveling to a church function in nearby Scottsdale, Arizona. The passengers in the vehicle did not have seat belts available and neither did the defendant. When the rear emergency light went out, the occupants took no action to extinguish the flames that were consuming the interior of the car. Despite the lack of seat belts and the failure to extinguish the fire, two men in the car crashed into the back of the Explorer and both suffocated to death.
