A victory for consumers (idea)

The Automotive Industry

A Ford spokeswoman Kathleen Vokes called the Supreme Court's decision not to hear the case against Firestone a "victory for consumers." - Firestone are a company that make vehicle tyres and a subsidiary company of The Ford Motor Company. They allegedly made sub-standard products that were prone to failure, and may have been the cause of many car accidents.

I believe her exact words were 'It confirms that safety decisions should be made by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(sic), not trial lawyers. No-injury cases should not be heard as class actions, especially in this case, because Ford and Firestone have already replaced millions of tires at their own expense.'¹

Remember, 'injury' is a pretty broad term, referring not only to physical injury, but also to loss of earnings, and even property damage.² She is probably quite right in calling this a victory to consumers, because if forced were to fight a lawsuit which basicly alleged 'Nothing bad happened to me, my car, my firestone tyres, my pets or my family, and Ford replaced my tyres free of charge, but I was endangered, and no-one wants to buy my Ford Explorer, so I demand they give me money', Ford would just pass on the costs of the legal action to consumers.

People who were actually injured by ford in some way still have the right to sue them for compensation.