A Federal judge in Illinois Tuesday ordered Ford Motor Company to turn over all safety information it has obtained on the company's 15-passenger vans and fined the automaker for concealing evidence about the controversial van model. Plaintiff attorneys filed a motion to impose sanctions against Ford after determining company officials hid evidence in a wrongful death case involving two E350 van passengers killed on a Kentucky highway in 1996. Originally filed in 1998, the case is scheduled for trial February 24. According to plaintiff attorneys, Ford's records show the automaker knew the 15-passenger vans were not safe and had a tendency to rollover.

In 2002, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a warning alerting consumers that 15-passenger vans have a higher risk of rollovers when fully loaded. Over 400 people have died in 15-passenger van accidents in the United States since 1990.