Suit blames Ford's rear-view system for toddler's driveway death

The mother of a 3-year-old killed in his driveway alleges a faulty vehicle design by Ford is to blame. 

Halie Bush, individually and as representative of the estate of K.S., filed a complaint against Ford Motor Co. on Aug. 8 in the Marshall Division of the Eastern District of Texas.

According to the complaint, Bush is the mother of K.S., a 3-year-old boy who was killed Nov. 2, 2013, when his father inadvertently backed over him in the driveway of their Carthage home. Bush contends the Ford is liable because of an alleged design flaw. 

Bush says the vehicle's "rear view visibility system was inadequate to protect against back-over crashes involving children, persons with disabilities, the elderly and other pedestrians located directly behind the subject vehicle." She says that makes the vehicle "unreasonably dangerous and defective." 

Bush accuses the manufacturer of strict liability, negligence and gross negligence for allegedly failing to design a vehicle with adequate rear view visibility. She is asking for more than $75,000 in damages for loss of companionship, mental anguish, funeral and burial expenses.

Attorneys J. Hunter Craft, John C. Ramsey and Justin A. Hill, all of Houston, along with Carl R. Roth and Amanda A. Abraham, both of Marshall, are representing Bush. They request a jury trial. 

The case number is Marshall Division of the Eastern District of Texas case 2:14-cv-00850-JRG-RSP 

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed at the Marshall Division of the Eastern District of Texas. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note that a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual not the government. It is not an indication of guilt and it represents only one side of the story.