Ford Motor Co. and Yaklin Ford in Richwood, Texas, are being sued in Texas for not changing a recalled airbag that led to a girl sustaining life-altering accidents.
The swimsuit, filed by plaintiff Sara Morgan in Brazoria County close to Houston, claims Morgan was concerned in a collision in June 2020 in Brazoria County whereas using as a passenger in a 2007 Ford Mustang. Following the collision, the Mustang’s Takata airbag “expelled metallic shrapnel” into Morgan’s face and brought about extreme accidents, together with the lack of her left eye.
Ford recalled greater than 58,000 autos, together with the 2007 Mustang, in June 2014 following stories that the Takata airbag contained in the car may expel shrapnel into the cabin. The Takata recall has unfold all through the worldwide auto business for greater than a decade and is largest automotive recall in historical past, with greater than 67 million affected airbags within the U.S. throughout numerous automakers. Nineteen 19 deaths and greater than 400 accidents have been linked to the defect.
Japan’s Takata Corp. filed for chapter in June 2017 and was bought the next 12 months for $1.6 billion by provider Joyson Security Programs, which was then often called Key Security Programs.
The Mustang concerned in Morgan’s accident was taken into Yaklin Ford in October 2018 to have two recollects carried out on the airbag inflators. Nevertheless, the lawsuit alleges that Yaklin Ford “solely changed the driving force’s-side airbag inflator” and knowingly left the passenger-side inflator intact.
The lawsuit contends Yaklin Ford was liable for not changing the airbag inflator, however Ford additionally was liable for Morgan’s accidents as a result of “a recall just isn’t an enough substitute for a protected car” and Ford has “an absolute obligation to supply shoppers with a car that was moderately protected in crashes.”
“Ford is liable for manufacturing autos which can be presupposed to be protected. That features having protected parts,” Morgan’s legal professional Rob Ammos stated in an interview. “They put tens of millions of those autos into the stream of commerce they usually have did not ensure that they’ve all been remedied and recalled and stuck.”
Ford spokesperson Catherine Hargett wrote in an e-mail to Automotive Information that the corporate went to important lengths to make sure that the faulty airbag inflator concerned in Morgan’s car was repaired.
“On this occasion, Ford went to substantial lengths to have the inflator repaired, sending over 30 recall notices (earlier than and after the failed vendor restore) to the registered proprietor and even sending a cell restore unit to the proprietor’s dwelling and knocking on her door,” Hargett wrote.
The lawsuit additionally names the driving force of the car that struck the Mustang by which Morgan was using as a defendant.
Morgan is searching for an undisclosed quantity in damages for previous and current accidents, medical remedy and gross negligence of Ford and Yaklin Ford.
Attorneys representing Yaklin Ford didn’t reply instantly reply to a request for remark.