Engineer offers reason for SUV's speed before crash
Testimony says electromagnetic interference to blame in case
Published: Saturday, July 29, 2006 - 6:00 am
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By Angelia Davis
STAFF WRITER
adavis@greenvillenews.com
An engineer testifying Friday in a case against Ford Motor Co. said electromagnetic interference caused the sudden acceleration of the Ford Explorer involved in a 1999 wreck that killed one woman and left another a quadriplegic.
The lawsuits against Ford Motor Co., TRW Vehicle Safety Systems Inc. and D&D Motors Inc. now being heard in Circuit Court in Greenville 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 Interstate 385 in Laurens County. But defense attorneys for Ford and others have said the two women weren't wearing seat belts when the 1995 Ford Explorer wrecked.
"That makes design not an issue," said Adam Fox, an attorney for TRW Vehicle Safety Systems Inc., one defendant in the case.
Testifying for the plaintiffs, engineer Antony Anderson explained videos and gave demonstrations of electromagnetic interference using such things as motors, steel and a battery-powered watch to show the visual impact of something he said you can't see but does exist. Later, Anderson, an electrical engineering consultant and expert witness who said he had studied depositions in the case, was asked by attorney Edward Bell II whether it was his opinion that the cause of the sudden acceleration was mechanical or electrical.
Anderson's reply was, "In my opinion, it was electrical."
Anderson then was asked if electrical is something the customer has control of, to which he said "no."
Anderson also responded positively when asked if he believed electromagnetic interference was the cause of the sudden
acceleration.
The trial is expected to continue Saturday and next week.
