- Two families are suing after their children were hurt by a Mustang while watching a demo.
- The lawsuit names Continental, Ford, a nonprofit organizer, and the test driver as defendants.
- The Mustang Dark Horse snapped sideways and struck a barrier before landing on its roof.
The parents of a pair of school children who ended up in hospital after a fun visit to a car test track went horribly wrong have filed a lawsuit this week, naming Ford as one of the defendants.
Elijah Gibson and Lavell McGee, then aged 8 and 10, were at an automotive test facility in Auburn Hills, MI, last summer watching a Ford Mustang Dark Horse being put through its paces when the pony car lost control and slammed into the guard rail where they were standing.
Related: Two Ford Mustangs Crash Through Separate Homes In Phoenix
The Mustang bounced back onto the track and landed on its roof, but both kids had been left severely injured as a result of the initial impact. Gibson suffered leg fractures, a deep cut on his foot and a brain injury and McGee sustained injuries to his legs and head. Both children continue to have memory problems according to claims laid out in the suit.
The trip had been arranged by the Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program (DAPCEP) nonprofit and was taking place at a test track owned by Continental Automotive Systems. Continental’s test driver, Linus Gugino, was driving a Mustang loaned to the company by Ford, meaning the automaker’s involvement was virtually nil, but it, DAPCEP, Continental and Gugino are all being targeted in the suit.
Smartphone footage of of the incident is blurry and shaky, but viewed together with an aerial photo of the crash site it looks like the Mustang exited the left hand curve onto the straight in an oversteer slide then snapped back the other way, striking the guard rail where the kids were standing.
Jon Marko, one of the lawyers representing the families, suggests the driver “deliberately lost control” or [drifted] the car to make the show more exciting and that all of the defendants were negligent.
Gugino, a keen kart racer who had landed the Continental gig out of college just a few months earlier, now works as a road test engineer for Brembo, according to his Facebook profile.
