Months before the trial was scheduled to begin, a lawsuit involving a Ford Explorer rollover settled for $22 million. The 1992 Ford Explorer rolled over when a car traveling along Chicago's Eisenhower Expressway nicked the driver's side rear wheel well.
The driver, Nabil Boury, sustained minor injuries in the accident. His 14-year-old sister Reena and a teenage friend were killed. Boury's cousin Rannie was left blind in one eye and another passenger, Jessica Jones, is a quadriplegic because of the accident.
The lawsuit claimed that Ford Motor Co.'s Explorer was defectively designed and prone to rollover accidents. The suit blamed Explorer's narrow width and tall body design.
The suit also involved the Packey Webb Ford dealership, which replaced the Explorer's standard factory tires with Michelin tires. The Explorer owner's manual specifically warned against equipping the SUV with tires similar to the Michelin 235/75R15 found on Boury's vehicle.