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Ford defends itself in Explorer rollover trial

Two people were killed in this 1997 accident in Texas when the Ford Explorer rolled three to four times.

From CNN National Correspondent Tony Clark

GREENVILLE, Texas (CNN) -- Ford Motor Co. is expected to defend itself in court Tuesday on charges that the design for its popular Explorer, a sports utility vehicle, is responsible for a traffic accident that killed two people.

In court filings, attorneys for families of the two men killed in the accident, which happened on a Texas interstate four years ago, described the Explorer as "unreasonably unsafe and imminently dangerous to human life and limb."

Ford blames the accident on driver negligence and has defended its design as sound. A jury of 10 women and two men was seated Monday.

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Four years ago, Nathan Maier was driving his 1995 Ford Explorer on Interstate 30, heading back to Dallas after a fishing trip with three friends. A car pulled into his lane. The attorney for his family described what happened next:

"He moved his vehicle to the left, off onto the shoulder... moved his vehicle back to the right," said Leonard Vitullo, the attorney. "The vehicle at that point in time started to lean, come up and rolled over three to four times."

Maier and passenger Bill Collard were killed, and the two other passengers were injured. Vitullo said a defective design led to the rollover, saying the Explorer should have been wider and lower.

"In 1989 ...their engineers made four recommendations to change the design of the vehicle," Vitullo said. "Ford didn't do it. They only implemented two of the design changes. The ones they didn't do included widening the vehicle two inches and lowering the vehicle."

Since CNN interviewed Vitullo, the judge in the case imposed a gag order, and Ford officials could not comment. But in court filings, Ford pins the blame on the driver.

And a witness statement included in the accident report suggested the same. "The driver of the Explorer realized he was in the median, over-corrected and rolled two to three times," the witness said.

The 2002 Explorer has been redesigned. It is two-and-a-half inches wider and includes rollover sensors and side-curtain airbags, features the 1995-2001 models lacked.

The 1995-2001 models are driven by four million people.

The trial is expected to last until the end of the month.

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Bridgestone/Firestone
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Consumers Union

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