Ludivina C. Benavides, Individually and on behalf of the Estate of Laura Benavides; and Jerry Alaniz, Individually and as Administratrix of the Estate of Paul Alaniz v. Ford Motor Company

On Friday, December 13, 2002, a Texas Duval County jury awarded $225 million in actual damages in a product liability lawsuit against Ford Motor Company. This award is the largest actual damage verdict in a wrongful death case in the state. The suit arose from a July 26, 2001 accident involving a Ford F-150 four-door super cab pick-up that rolled three times in a single vehicle accident that occurred outside of Benavides, Texas. The Ford super cab truck was designed with four doors, with the two rear doors hinged at the rear of the vehicle. During the rollover accident, the doors on the driver-side opened causing the ejection of Paul Alaniz, the driver, and Laura Benavides who was seated directly behind the driver. There were two other occupants seated on the right-hand side of the pick-up, who both walked away from the accident uninjured as their doors remained closed during the rollover accident. Paul Alaniz, 34, and Laura Benavides, 20, were both vaulted out of the vehicle and sustained their fatal injuries upon contact with the ground.

The surviving family members brought a product liability suit against Ford Motor Company, alleging that the F-150 four-door super cab was defectively designed in that the vertical support structure, or B pillar, had been removed in the design of this vehicle, allowing for a 56 inch span from the windshield to the back window. With the B pillar removed, the vehicle provided little occupant protection in a rollover accident. The jury also heard testimony that the truck was defectively designed by Ford Motor Company when it used latches that have some plastic components, which tend to break instead of bending, as would an all metal latch, in an rollover accident.

During the trial, the Texas DPS Trooper who investigated the accident testified that this was a survivable accident had the doors stayed closed. He testified that in the hundreds of rollover accidents he has investigated during his 16 year career, he had never seen a vehicle as wide open as the subject vehicle when the doors came open. His concern over the opening of the doors during the accident prompted him to call Ford Motor Company within hours of the accident occurring.

The jury determined that the design defect in this vehicle allowed the doors to open during the accident. The occupants were ejected through the portal that was created when the doors opened.
The F-series pickup is a top seller for Ford and they are on track to sell approximately 900,000 of these trucks this year alone.

During the trial, the jury viewed a Dolly-Rollover Test that was conducted by Ford Motor Company's experts for purposes of re-creating the rollover accident in their defense of the case. In this test, however, the doors on the driver-side door opened and the test dummies were partially ejected. Plaintiffs, rather than Defendants, offered this test into evidence to demonstrate to the jury how the doors came open and how the deceased plaintiffs were ejected in the accident subject of the suit. The jury saw several other rollover tests that had been conducted with vehicles that incorporated some of Plaintiffs proposed safer designed which showed the doors remained closed during the rollover sequence.
In its verdict, the jury found the pick-up truck defective in design and that such defect caused the deaths of Paul Alaniz and Laura Benavides. Ford Motor Company unsuccessfully claimed that the deaths of Paul Alaniz and Laura Benavides were caused by the negligence of Paul Alaniz.

Laura Benavides played college basketball at Concordia University and had just transferred to Texas A & M, Kingsville to be closer to her family. She is survived by her mother Ludivinia Benavides of Benavides, Texas. She was 20 years old at the time of her death. The jury awarded $110 to Ludivina Benavides and awarded $5 Million for the physical pain and mental anguish suffered by Laura Benavides prior to her ultimate death.

Paul Alaniz was an assistant football coach in Freer, Texas. He had spent his life working with children not only as a coach, but as a teacher. Literally, hundreds of cards and letters were presented in evidence that the Alaniz family received from the students Paul had taught after his tragic death. He is survived by his mother Jerry Alaniz of Benavides, Texas. He was 34 years old at the time of his death. The jury awarded $101 Million to Jerry Alaniz and awarded $9 Million for the physical pain and mental anguish suffered by Paul Alaniz prior to his ultimate death.

The jury awarded $101 million to Alaniz's mother, Jerry Alaniz, and $9 million for the physical pain and mental anguish suffered by Paul Alaniz, an assistant football coach in Freer, prior to his death. The jury also awarded $110 million to Benavides' mother, Ludivina Benavides, and $5 million for the physical pain and mental anguish suffered by Laura Benavides, who had just transferred to Texas A&M-Kingsville to be closer to her family.

Dr. Joseph Burton of Burton & Associates, Alpharetta, Georgia, biomechical engineering; Wayne McCracken, Research Engineers, Inc., Raleigh, North Caroline, accident reconstructionist; John Stilson, Stilson Consulting, Grayslake, Illinois, automobile designer; Dr. Burton Kittay, Corpus Christi, Texas, psychologist

Charles P. Hatsell, Ph.D., M.D., San Antonio, Texas, biomechanics; Juan Manuel Herrera, Ph.D., Met Tech, Inc., El Paso, Texas; Larry F. Ragan, Ragan Research Corp., Livonia, Michigan; Thomas O. Tiede, P.E., Tom Tiede Automotive Consulting & Engineering, Huntington Beach, California; William E. Wecker of Wecker & Associates, Nebato, California; Alfred Darold, Ford Motor Company Representative

Editor's Note: Newspaper reports indicated that Ford will appeal this verdict, which would be expected given the facts of the case as reported. This was also reported to be the largest compensatory damage verdict in the history of Texas.