Ford Faces Lawsuit After Out-of-Control Mustang Seriously Injures Student During Field Trip On Test Track
Two Primary school student seriously injured while on a field trip to Ford’s test track in Auburn Hills, Michigan. A demonstration driver, in something that looks like a mustanglost control of the machine and ran headlong into the railing behind that student classroom Elijah Gibson, eight years old at the time, and Lavell McGee, ten years old at the time, were hospitalized as a result of the crash in July 2023. A lawsuit in Oakland County Circuit Court named Continental Automotive Systems (track owner), Ford Motor Co., the Detroit Area Pre-Collegiate Engineering Program and driver as a defendant in the case.
Both boys suffered leg injuries and traumatic brain injuries, and both developed cognitive problems and suffered memory loss. Gibson has undergone multiple surgeries as a result of his injuries. The lawsuit alleges negligence, willful misconduct and wanton negligence, among other charges.
You can see in the image above how the accident unfolded, as the car veered right, jumped the curb on the road and smashed the guardrail right where the students were gathered under the tent. From there, the car flipped over and came to rest on the asphalt. If it still had enough speed to roll when it hit the guardrail, it must have been going pretty fast.
The lawsuit, filed by Marko Law, PLLC and Scott Goodwin Law, PC, claims that the driver “recklessly and/or recklessly accelerated the vehicle and lost control, striking the guardrail and striking children watching the race from behind. The impact was so violent that the vehicle flipped onto its roof.”
There are clearly many unforeseeable things that went wrong that led to this tragic accident. Certainly the guardians could have done more to keep the children away from the guardrail, and perhaps the driver did not need to make such a high-speed, high-risk maneuver around children. I suspect the legal proceedings and the jury will determine who made which poor decision in due course.
