A group of purchasers have filed a class action lawsuit in West Virginia federal court against Ford Motor Co. over alleged defects in Ford’s vehicles that result in unintended acceleration. The class action is similar to the lawsuits that have recently been filed against Toyota Motor Corp.
The lawsuit is filed on behalf of potentially millions of Ford purchasers and lessees, law360.com said. It claims Ford vehicles manufactured between 2002 and 2010 that feature an electronic throttle control system are susceptible to unexpected acceleration, and that the company has openly admitted that some of its vehicles have that issue.
The plaintiffs claim that Ford’s history of unintended acceleration problems has been discussed at length in the public record. Attorneys for the plaintiffs say that while their clients are seeking recovery for the lost value of their cars, they also want Ford to resolve the problem so that no more people are harmed and no more lives are at risk because of accelerator problems, law360.com said.
The lawsuit cites an October 2011 report by the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General; it says that Ford owners have experienced unacceptable rates of sudden unintended acceleration, law360.com said. The plaintiffs charge that Ford could have, and should have, prevented the incidents by including the brake-over-accelerator system or another dependable system. Although Ford began installing a brake-over-accelerator system in some of its vehicles in 2010, the company has failed to fix or warn drivers about the lack of such a system in its earlier vehicles, the lawsuit said.
