Senate (FL) passes Ford Motor Co. liability shield bill

[Catalepsy]

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2011/03/senate-passes-fords-liability-shield-bill.html

 

Interesting case where the FL supreme court issued a ruling that Ford can be held liable for an accident even if the driver was at fault. This bill will overturn the court's ruling to shield Ford from the "explosion" of lawsuits.

[NickF1011]

Sounds good to me. It's not saying that the automaker is automatically not liable, which is good. It's just saying that the jury has the right to hear all evidence of circumstances surrounding the incident, which is also good.

[akirby]

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2011/03/senate-passes-fords-liability-shield-bill.html

 

Interesting case where the FL supreme court issued a ruling that Ford can be held liable for an accident even if the driver was at fault. This bill will overturn the court's ruling to shield Ford from the "explosion" of lawsuits.

 

It won't shield Ford from lawsuits - it simply allows Ford to argue that other factors were also responsible and allows the jury to place full or partial blame on other parties.

 

The original ruling said that in the case of the 15 yr olds that crashed and burned that since the cause of the burns to the survivor was a faulty part in the vehicle that Ford is solely responsible for the damages. This new ruling says that Ford can argue that the 15 yr old who was DUI at the time and who caused the original accident could be held at fault also. The jury could still find Ford partially or fully at fault for damages but at least Ford can argue their case that others were fully or partially responsible before the jury.