In Cotulla, Texas, a 41-year-old man was left brain damaged after rolling his 1993 Explorer in 2004, ejecting him from the car. Ruben Zamora’s mother decided to sue Ford Motor Co. after his accident, alleging that Ford was at fault for having a defect in the SUV’s suspension.

Zamora rolled his Explorer after one of the tires lost its tread, shooting vibrations through the rear of the SUV that made it lose control. This caused the Explorer to skid sideways. Zamora was thrown from the vehicle causing severe brain damage.

A court in Texas decided that the Explorer was defective and awarded Zamora $10 million on February 1. Zamora was found by a jury to be 35% responsible for the accident, as he was allegedly not wearing a seatbelt properly. The jury decided on a verdict of $6.5 million against Ford.

A Ford spokesperson said that Ford will appeal the case. 137,817 Explorers were sold by Ford last year, a decline from their sale of over 400,000 Explorers in 2002.

Source: Margaret Fisk, “Ford Loses $6.5 Million Verdict in Explorer Rollover,” Bloomberg.com, February 4, 2008.