Posted on 10/24/2005 12:04:25 PM PDT by CSM
Link only, per what I am interpreting as our copy write rules.
Bottom line, Ford has been found liable for failing to properly warn the public not to recline in their seats while driving. Oh, and to not prop their feet up on the dashboard and take a nap. For some strange reason, Ford is supposed to make sure people understand that cars don't drive themselves.....
All this to the tune of $16.95 millioin.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
The 1998 Windstar manual has that same warning also on page 158 and the following text on page 157:
Safety Belts
The use of safety belts helps to restrain you and your
passengers in case of a collision. In most states and in Canada,
the law requires their use. We strongly recommend that you use
them every time you travel in your vehicle.
Safety belts provide best restraint when:
n the seatback is upright
n the occupant is sitting upright (not slouched)
n the lap belt is snug and low on the hips
n the shoulder belt is snug against the chest
n the knees are straight forward
GEEZ!! What does Ford have to do, add an idiot light to the dash and include a DVD with English and Spanish translations for the literacy-impaired? Oooops, don't forget a VHS tape for the technology-impaired, and maybe an audiotape for the blind..
Well, then, they shouldn't have a reclining drivers seat and cruise control. And automatic transmissions. And GPS navigation systems. What, I have to stay awake, too?
... makes them less of a target this way.
>>The owner's manual warns against that.
It shouldn't have to, and the problem with doing that should be intuitively obvious to the most casual observer. No engineering degree required.
So, when auto manufacturers are forced to install a lockout system that prevents the seat from reclining while the car is moving... Then can car buyers bill Martin for the extra cost they have to pay?
Silly Wolfie! 3 reasons right of the top of my skull:
1. Rest stops;
2. Drive-in movies (yeah, there still are such things!); and
3. Lover's Lane.
If Ford doesn't fight this tooth and nail they might as well shut down immediately.
Thats almost as bad as the 50 million that Winnebago had to pay out when the owner/driver of his new RV put the cruise control on and went back to the galley to make a pot of coffee.
Winnebago was forced to pay after the vehicle left the road and overturned because they didn't warn the owner that he had to stay in the drivers seat while it was in motion!
He also got a new RV out of the deal.
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Why have reclining seats at all? I've enjoyed the humorous answers to your question. On a more serious note, I'd like to see reclining seats BANNED on airplanes and buses. People may or may not utilize them in cars, but no one should utilize them on public transportation when anyone is behind them. Back to the matter at hand.... TORT REFORM NOW!!! |
Then there is the houseboat that went aground at Lake Powell a year ago where the people said they thought it rain on rails like Disneyland and they didn't realize they had to steer the boat.
I owned a Subaru Brat once, it had a warning on the sun visor that stated "This Is Not A Jeep"......after I sold it I bought a Jeep. True story.
We all have.
"It never once occurred to me that the car manufacturer made a seat that could be put in a position hat rendered the seat belt useless."
In [that] instance, perhaps.
But I can assure you the passenger would not have been thrown from the car regardless the seat position, and isn't that really what seat belts were designed to do.
Right?
Keep bodies "in" automobiles?
So some off-the-wall thing like this happens & the "victim" is awarded $16.5 million?
Who do you suppose will *pay* that judgment?
Ford?
HA!!
Won't be long before a chunk of blue ice will hit a moving vehicle, killing one or both occupants.
Means steel roofs y'know, and that's really gonna screwup CAFE standards. :o)
Of course that "safety" improvement comes last, after the $16.5 million award is paid by all of us who purchase & drive automobiles.
After all we're all not only gonna live forever, it's a *right*, one that's *guaranteed*.
...& you can bet the shysters will see to that.
(Note to self...oops! not plaintiff, DEFENDANT!. Cleverness/Accuracy ratio less than 1.000 on that post....)
About 30 years ago, Oldsmobile put swivel seats in the Cutlass as an option. But they swiveled OUT, toward the doors, to make it easier to get into and out of the card.
Now you know the answer to a trivia question. ;-)
I don't know which imrpressed people more, the swivel seats or the fact that I could hide an entire six pack inside the console (with ice).
You bought one of those, too? The one with the reversible panels in the seats?
I just raise the blouse and look at the playground...
"Film at 11"...
LOL
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