Ford’s $4.7 Million Airbag Liability Unaffected by Driver ‘Lean’

A driver who purportedly leaned into the passenger seat of a Ford Motor Co. SUV during an accident may have contributed to injuries associated with the airbag’s failure to protect him, but that action isn’t the kind of fault that would reduce his widow’s $4.7 million jury verdict, the South Carolina Supreme Court said.

The justices Wednesday clarified an answer they gave the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in July about crashworthiness principles under the state’s law.

John Harley Wickersham Jr.'s widow blamed his suicide on pain from the accident. She said an airbag problem enhanced the ...