Jurors hearing testimony in a case against Ford Motor Co. concerning a 1999 wreck that killed one and left another as
a quadriplegic examined the Ford Explorer that was involved in the wreck Monday, staring at its crumpled roof, bent
hood, flat tires and missing windows.

Armed with pencils and notepads, jurors went to the parking lot behind the Greenville County Courthouse where the
Explorer was brought for them to see. They climbed on the trailer bed where it sat, tugged on its seatbelts and took
notes.

Jurors also heard from a professor of mechanical engineering who testified that evidence is consistent with two of the
people in the car, one who died and the other who is now quadriplegic, wearing their seatbelts when the wreck occurred.

Plaintiff attorneys have alleged that the occupants in the car were wearing seatbelts and that two came unlatched,
while defense attorneys have said those two passengers weren't wearing seatbelts.

Mariusz Ziejewski, a professor at North Dakota State University, testified that there was sufficient force for the
seatbelt of Patricia Carter, a passenger who died in the wreck, to unlatch, and that evidence shows she was entangled
in the seatbelt when she was ejected.

He said there were two cuts on the seatbelt Carter used that match two sharp edges on the frame around the window. He
testified that the cuts couldn't have happened if the seatbelt had been in the stored position.

Ziejewski said the unlatching of the seatbelt of Sonya Watson, who was 17 at the time of the wreck and was driving the
1995 Explorer, is consistent with evidence from the scene and with the car speeding up uncontrollably. Watson now is
quadriplegic.

He said there was an imprint of the buckle on the center console that wouldn't be there if the driver wasn't wearing
the seatbelt.

The testimony came in the second week of a trial for two product liability lawsuits filed in state court in Greenville
in 2002, three years after the wreck on Interstate 385 where the 1995 Ford Explorer rolled over.

Car parts and replicas of car components are in front of the jurors as they listen to testimony. In the back of the
courtroom, there is a section of a car with the driver's seat, dashboard and steering wheel, middle console, roof and
seatbelt for plaintiff's testimony.

The lawsuits against Ford Motor Co., TRW Vehicle Safety Systems Inc. and D&D Motors Inc. question the vehicle's
occupant restraint system, electronic cruise control and vehicle body and chassis.

Plaintiff attorneys have said the vehicle accelerated and "took off" on I-385 in Laurens County.

Ziejewski said Watson received her debilitating injuries when she was outside the vehicle. He said that about 1,000
pounds of force are needed to get the level of injury she has and that the force must be vertical or a little to the
front of the head.

"Had she not been ejected, would she have had the injuries she has today?" asked Edward Bell, an attorney for the
plaintiffs. "In my opinion, no," Ziejewski said.

He testified that Carter received her injuries "most likely when she was partially ejected and continued when she was
fully ejected." He said the injuries to her abdominal area suggest she was partially ejected from the vehicle when it
rolled over her.

In cross-examination, Alan Thomas, an attorney for Ford, asked Ziejewski if he looked at the marks on the seatbelt and
if that portion would have been un-spooled for a person of Carter's stature. Ziejewski said another person would
testify as a seatbelt expert.

Ziejewski said he does a significant amount of work for Bell and other attorneys, traveling to testify in court for
money. He testified that he makes $1,000 for the first three hours of testimony and then charges $350 per hour after
that.

When asked if he has done scientific study on inertial unlatching -- or a seatbelt unbuckling without being released
by the passenger -- to see if it exists in the real world, Ziejewski said no but that he had received studies from
others and seen documents from engineering associations. "That's not my area of expertise."

Thomas asked if auto manufacturers have a right to depend on people wearing seatbelts, and Ziejewski said that if you
don't use a seatbelt it can't help. He testified that being ejected is consistent with being unbelted and also with
having your belt come unlatched.

"Did you look at the coroner's report for evidence that shows Carter was entangled" with the seatbelt? Thomas asked.
Ziejewski said he had.

"Did you find any?" Thomas asked. "No," Ziejewski said. He also testified that he found no evidence of bruises or
other medical evidence on Carter and Watson that they were wearing seatbelts.

He said yes when Thomas asked if he knew that the concept of inertial unlatching requires a very specific set of
circumstances to come together, saying there has to be impact, the right duration and direction and a "low load"
on the seatbelt.