New Braunfels family sues Ford Motor Company over father’s death
by Benjamin Treviño | January 24th, 2025 | Lawsuit, Legal Representation, Personal Injury
SAN ANTONIO — The family of a New Braunfels man who was run over by his own truck has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Ford Motor Company.
According to KHOU-TV of Houston, Roy “Mack” Irwin was killed June 18, 2024 in a New Braunfels subdivision. Ring camera footage shows Irwin parking his 2023 Ford F-250 and exiting the vehicle. The video shows the truck moving back and forth before rolling forward.
Irwin is seen in the video chasing after the truck, and grabbing the steering wheel.
“As he tried to get back into the truck he was run over,” said family attorney Jeff Wigington. “He ultimately died from the injuries that he sustained. He didn’t have to die.”
Wigington told the television station that there have been numerous documented complaints, primarily from consumer groups, regarding transmission-type issues with Ford F-250s. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has recorded a number of such complaints going back five years, although there’ve been no recalls for the 2023 model, the station reported.
“The determination of the specific cause of those movements will have to be done throughout the course of this litigation, through testing that’s ultimately completed,” Wigington said.
San Antonio television station KENS 5 reported that it reached out to Ford for a statement in response to the lawsuit but a Ford representative said the company doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
Suing a car maker for an accident
According to Texas law, companies that manufacture products (including vehicles) must ensure their products are reasonably safe and function as intended. Under product liability laws, car manufacturers can be held liable if it is proven that it produced an unsafe product that caused an injury or death.
Liability
Before a vehicle or parts manufacturer can be held legally liable for a death or injury, the victim or their family must prove the following:
· The vehicle or part was demonstrably defective.
· The manufacturer’s negligence caused the defect.
· The defect caused the crash.
· The plaintiff suffered losses in the crash. (This can include medical expenses, lost income, property damage, and in the case of wrongful death, losses resulting from the death of an immediate family member.)
The J. Gonzalez Law Firm can help
This most challenging aspect of a product liability case is proving the defective part or vehicle was the cause of the crash. As a defense, companies usually try to show that the driver or some circumstance was actually to blame for the crash.
That’s why you need a lawyer who has the expertise to gather the compelling evidence to prove the existence of a defect, and demonstrate the defect caused your crash. You will find such an attorney at the J. Gonzalez Law Firm. We can represent you anywhere in the state of Texas.
Contact us today to schedule your free case evaluation. You can do that via this website, or by calling 1-800-CAR-CRASH. The J. Gonzalez Law Firm operates on a contingency fee basis. You only pay legal fees if we recover compensation for you.
