
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 20, 1995                   TAG: 9509200057
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CONCORD, N.H.                                  LENGTH: Medium

LAWSUIT CHALLENGES CAR'S LACK OF AIRBAGS BEFORE LEGAL DEADLINE

FORD COMPLIED with the law. But that's not good enough, says a woman whose daughter died - wearing a seatbelt - in a car that predated the airbag deadline.

A mother can sue Ford Motor Co. because the car in which her daughter died did not have airbags, the state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

Jo-Ann Tebbetts of Gilford, N.H., argued that her daughter's 1988 Ford Escort was unreasonably dangerous. Ford maintained Tebbetts could not sue because the company had fulfilled its legal responsibility and installed the seatbelts required by law when the car was made.

Rebecca Tebbetts, 18, was killed when she drove off the road while speeding in 1991. She was wearing her seatbelt but hit her head on the steering wheel. Her mother's lawyer, Ted McKean III of Gilford, said she likely would have lived had her car had an airbag, but the family could not afford a car with the device.

``The technology existed for airbags as early as the 1970s. Why weren't they out in cars until now? I think the answer to that is simple: The auto manufacturers felt the cost was prohibitive and the consumer wouldn't bite. I think it's obvious today. The consumer will pay,'' McKean said.

The federal government mandates all cars made after 1998 have dual airbags, said Tim Hurd, spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Ford spokeswoman Pam Kueber said all Fords have dual airbags now.

Belknap County Superior Court had sided with Ford, but the New Hampshire Supreme Court's decision Tuesday sends the case back for trial.

This is the first time a state Supreme Court has ruled whether injured drivers or passengers could sue automakers for failing to install airbags voluntarily, said Arthur Bryant of the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice in Washington.

``The central issue in this case is whether manufacturers are immune from lawsuits under state law simply because they complied with federal regulations,'' he said. ``For the state Supreme Court to unanimously agree that this case can go forward indicates how other courts should rule.''

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB