— A Ford F-150 seat belt lawsuit is over after the plaintiff failed to show the seat, seat belt and seat belt load limiter were defectively designed.
On December 7, 2021, Scott Wade was riding in the front passenger seat of a Ford F-150 truck in the right lane of the Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway.
A Dodge Durango traveling in the opposite direction crossed the median and collided with a Mack truck, then the Durango hit the F-150.
The crash killed one passenger in the Durango and seriously injured the other occupants. Plaintiff Wade and the driver of the Ford F-150 were also injured.
According to the lawsuit filed by Wade and his wife, the bottom of his seat deformed and slack was introduced into his seat belt which tore the belt into two pieces. The plaintiff complains he slipped under the F-150 lap portion of the seat belt during the crash because the restraint system was defective.
The plaintiff sued over claims against Ford for "negligence based on design and manufacturing defects and for negligence per se." However, Ford argued the F-150 met or exceeded all safety standards when it was sold, and the plaintiff was allegedly wearing his seat belt incorrectly.
Ford F-150 Seat Belt Lawsuit Dismissed
According to Judge Greg N. Stivers, the plaintiff brought a “crashworthiness” claim, and in Kentucky to succeed on a crashworthiness claim, a plaintiff must show:
- An alternative safer design, practical under the circumstances.
- Proof of what injuries, if any, would have resulted had the alternative, safer design been used.
- Some method of establishing the extent of enhanced injuries attributable to the defective design.
But the judge found plaintiff Wade "failed to offer an alternative design to the F-150’s restraint system as a whole or any of its individual components."
The judge says Wade’s restraint system expert referenced several other late model vehicles but did not show the designs of these restraint systems varied from that of the F-150 truck.
According to the judge, the plaintiff has not identified any alternative designs, much less any feasible alternative designs.
"Under the crashworthiness doctrine, an expert does not present an alternative vehicle design by simply naming other vehicles; proposals must be specific and include an explanation of why they would have been feasible to implement in the vehicle at issue." — Judge Stivers
The Ford F-150 seat belt lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky: Scott Wade and Jennifer Wade v. Ford Motor Company.