Lawyers ask judge to order recall of Ford Explorers

INDIANAPOLIS (June 4)—A group of plaintiffs' attorneys are asking Indianapolis federal judge Sarah Evans Barker to order the recall of 4 million Ford Explorers, model years 1991 to 2001. The lawyers claim the sport-utility vehicles are "inherently unsafe" and can't be made safe, and want Barker to order Ford Motor Co. to provide either cash reimbursement or new vehicles to Explorer owners. A Ford spokesman dismissed the lawyers' motion as "frivolous." Barker, of the U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, already has more than 200 personal injury lawsuits against Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. consolidated under her jurisdiction. The plaintiffs' lawyers have asked her to supervise Ford's recall of 13 million Firestone Wilderness AT tires, and she has ordered Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone to respond to that motion by June 5.