Man Injured in Crash Wins $730,000 Verdict

A Riverside man won a $730,000 judgment Tuesday against three firms that a jury found had failed to check brake-fluid levels in a Ford pickup that rolled off a hill at a construction site in 1980.

William Lee Powers, 52, of Temecula sustained back injuries and was totally disabled and unable to work as a construction foreman after the accident.

Powers had worked nine years for Kacor, a firm developing Rancho California in Temecula, when the accident occurred on Jan. 2, 1980. He was driving a Ford F-250 pickup leased from McCullagh Leasing Inc. of Anaheim.

“My client was driving down a dirt road on a hill west of Temecula,” said George W. Allen, one of Powers’ lawyers. “The brakes failed, and the truck went over a cliff.”

Defendants presented an expert witness who testified that drivers normally recognize that “spongy” brake response indicates the fluid level is gradually diminishing. The Orange County Superior Court jury found that Powers himself was partly responsible for his injuries.

The other defendants and their share of responsibility was fixed by the jury as follows:

- McCullagh Leasing, which bought the car new from Ford eight months before the accident, was allotted 35% of the responsibility. A secretary for the lawyer for McCullagh said he was not available for comment.

- Ford Motor Co., which built the pickup, 27%. A lawyer for Ford declined comment, saying it is company policy not to talk about pending litigation.

- Harry Amos, an independent contractor working for McCullagh, who prepared the truck for leasing, 7%.

- Powers’ employer, Kacor, was allotted a 14% share of the responsibility for his injuries.

Powers’ share of the negligence, which the jury set at 17%, will be subtracted from the total damage award, Allen said. A hearing later will determine how reimbursement for Powers’ medical expenses should be split between his employer, which provided insurance coverage, and Powers himself, Allen said.