NEW ORLEANS — A lawsuit filed in a U.S. District Court on Oct. 3 alleges the failure of the components of a 2006 Ford Expedition, namely the failure of the side air bag, caused the death of a Tangipahoa Parish man in December 2017.
The lawsuit was filed against Ford Motor Co. in the Eastern District of Louisiana on behalf of the widow and other family members of Lawrence Jackson, who died as a result of injuries sustained in the crash.
“The death of Decedent and Plaintiffs’ resulting damages and injuries were legally and proximately caused by the fault of Defendant and its officers, agents, employees, and those for whom it is legally responsible,” said the filing.
Further, the filing states the defendant is liable under the Louisiana Products Liability Act for “injuries and damages for designing, manufacturing, assembling, marketing, distributing, and/or selling the aforesaid 2006 Ford Expedition, including its airbag, that was unreasonably dangerous in construction or composition…because inadequate warnings about the product had not been provided and/or because the vehicle did not conform to an express warranty of the manufacturer about this product. “
The lawsuit states that in October 2017, the decedent was operating the vehicle owned by the plaintiff in a northerly direction on LA 1036 approaching its intersection with LA 1041 when he was caused to leave the roadway. The front right bumper of the vehicle collided with three highway signs and began rotating clockwise. The right bumper “impacted a wire fence and wooden fence pole, and continued to rotate clockwise until its left rear door struck anther wooden fence pole. Its front right bumper then forcefully collided with a pine tree, and as it continued to rotate clockwise its front left fender violently crashed into another pine tree.
“During this sequence of events…the air bag of the vehicle failed to deploy,” said the filing, and Lawrence died from his injuries on Dec. 9, 2017.
The plaintiff is represented by Paul Billingsley.
The U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana Case No. is 2:18-cv-09175.