Texas family awarded $30.4 million from Ford in death of teen in pickup crash

By Jim Greene

Published on October 07, 2005

Jennifer Garcia spent 18 days in a coma and died because the roof of the 1993 F-150 was not strong enough to protect her from serious head injury, according to the suit filed in the 107th State District Court in April 2004. The victim and her parents were struck by a car driven by Hazel Scaman in March 2004 when she pulled onto a Texas expressway, causing the pickup to roll over.

A Ford spokesperson said that Ford pickups meet government standards for passenger safety and that the company would appeal the judgment. The jury assigned Ford 90 percent of the responsibility for Garcia's death. The spokesperson said Scaman was at fault for causing the accident and that evidence showed Garcia was not wearing a seat belt, which might have prevented serious injury.

Plaintiffs' attorney Ray Marchan said that accident reports from the Texas Department of Public Safety show that Garcia was wearing a seat belt, and that Ford is guilty of selling a vehicle known by the company not to provide adequate protection in a rollover accident.

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