Blind spot

Brian and Lisa Wright alleged in Wright v. Ford Motor Co., filed in U.S. District Court in Beaumont in 2004, that the Ford Expedition that backed over and killed their 3-year-old son in a parking lot in 2003 “had a large and unreasonably dangerous blind spot immediately behind the vehicle” and was not equipped with the safety devices on other Ford SUVs. The Wrights filed a products liability, wrongful death and survivor suit against Ford. After a jury trial in 2005, Judge Marcia Crone issued a take-nothing judgment in favor of Ford, and the Wrights appealed. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s judgment on Nov. 15.  According to the 5th Circuit’s opinion, written by Senior Circuit Judge Will Garwood, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by instructing the jury to rebuttably presume that the Ford did not defectively design the Expedition under Texas Civil Practices & Remedies Code §82.008. That statute provides for a rebuttable presumption if the equipment at issue complies with mandatory federal safety standards. The Wrights argued that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 111 does not govern the rear sensing system with which the Expedition that hit the Wrights’ child should have been equipped and that §82.008’s rebuttable presumption was not triggered. The 5th Circuit found otherwise. Judges Rhesa Barksdale and Emilio Garza joined in the decision. 
-- Mary Alice Robbins