Motley Rice Files Product Liability Suit Against Ford Motor Company for Defective Ford Mustang

MT. PLEASANT, S.C.--Sept. 19, 2005--Nationally known law firm, Motley Rice LLC, together with Egerton & Associates P.A. of Greensboro, N.C., today announced the filing of a negligence and products liability claim against Ford Motor Company and Cloniger Ford, Inc. of Salisbury, N.C. The suit was filed on September 9, 2005 in Superior Court of North Carolina on behalf of Jimmie Todd Fine, of Davidson County, N.C., who was severely injured in a motor vehicle accident involving the rollover of a 2000 Ford Mustang. The action against Ford claims that known defects in the 2000 Ford Mustang led to Mr. Fine's injuries, and the plaintiff is therefore seeking to recover damages.

According to the claim, on September 27, 2004, Mr. Fine was driving the aforementioned Ford Mustang, when the vehicle experienced a sudden loss of stability and control and subsequently rolled over several times. As a result of the vehicle's allegedly defective seatbelt system and door latch, Mr. Fine's seatbelt failed to restrain him and the door opened on the car and Mr. Fine was ejected through the open door and suffered massive head injuries. The claim alleges that Ford Motor Company was fully aware of the Mustang's defective seatbelt and door latch systems, yet has undertaken steps to fraudulently conceal this information from the general public, thereby threatening public health and safety. The suit also claims that Cloniger Ford, where the vehicle was originally purchased, knew or should have known of the vehicle's dangerous defects at the time of sale.

"Mr. Fine's unfortunate incident is one of many allegedly caused by defects in Ford Motor Company's vehicles and their component parts," said Motley Rice attorney Kevin Dean. "In fact, Ford knew of the unsafe door latch assemblies in the Ford Mustang, and many other Ford models that we continue to investigate and test with Ford nameplates. We believe they know that too many of their customers have been injured and killed as a result of these failures. Why it takes a Dateline NBC Investigation, CBS 60 Minutes Story or NHTSA inquiry that creates negative marketing for the automaker to get Ford to recall and fix its vehicles is the real question. They just simply are not responsive to their customers which forces unnecessary legal action, especially with these bad doors."

About Motley Rice LLC

Motley Rice LLC is one of the nation's largest plaintiffs' litigation firms. Motley Rice attorneys gained global recognition for their pioneering work on behalf of asbestos victims, the State Attorneys General in their landmark litigation against Big Tobacco, and the 9/11 families in their groundbreaking lawsuit against terrorist financiers. Motley Rice attorneys are currently representing clients in two of the Ford defective door latch class action cases and continue to seek justice in the areas of: catastrophic injury; complex case resolution; consumer and commercial fraud; environmental hazards and contamination; medical negligence and medical device defects; occupational disease and toxic torts; and transportation defects. For more information on Motley Rice LLC call 1-800-768-4026 or visit http://www.motleyrice.com.