Jury Selection to Begin in Suit Against Ford

Jury selection is scheduled to start today in a suit against Ford Motor Co., which has avoided the courtroom for several months by settling hundreds of other lawsuits alleging its Explorer sport-utility vehicle’s design leads to tire failure and rollovers.

The trial starting this week in a Texas court involves a case brought by the family of Margarita Gonzalez, who died on July 13, 2000, after her Firestone tire-equipped 1998 Explorer suffered a tread separation and the car rolled over on a Texas highway.

Opening arguments were expected to follow later in the week.

A spokesman for the plaintiff, Skip Rutherford, said lead attorney Paula Wyatt was not looking for a settlement.

Ford spokeswoman Kathleen Vokes said the company prefers to negotiate an end to the case, but “you need both parties at the table to settle it.”

The company has settled about 200 suits involving rollovers of its wildly popular Explorer and blowouts or tread separations of Firestone’s since-recalled ATX, ATX II and Wilderness AT tires.

Firestone, the U.S. unit of Japan’s Bridgestone Corp., settled with the Gonzalez family for an undisclosed amount last month, and will not be in the courtroom.