Rather than improving safety as claimed, MyFord Touch actually degrades it, according to critics. Customers and care reviewers are unhappy.
A well-know, or infamous, national law firm has filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that Ford Motor Company’s MyFord Touch, MyLincoln Touch and MyMercury Touch touchscreen systems are defective. The firm of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro claims that the system often freezes, fails to respond to voice and touch commands and will not connect to mobile phones.
The infotainment systems, introduced by Ford in 2011 ahead of most of the industry, which quickly followed, was supposed to provide drivers with the ability to operate audio controls, use a GPS navigation system, control climate systems and operate a Bluetooth-enabled device through the system.
The 41-page complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for Central California, includes a long litany of problems with the system, and details Ford’s failed attempts at correcting the system through system updates and other fixes.
These of course have been widely documented in the media, including AutoInformed, which panned the original system, remains dubious about updates, and is saddened by the headlong rush of other automakers to increase the use of infotainment systems that are killing thousands and injuring hundreds of thousands of people annually because of distracted driving. (Automaker Defense of Hands-Free Devices Hooey AAA Says, Under Reporting of Cell Phone Crashes Rampant. New National Safety Council Research Shows NHTSA FARS Data is Garbage. U.S. DOT Publishes Distracted Driving Guidelines)
How this a problem that should be addressed in a class action lawsuit – where lawyers often take the bulk of the proceeds if successful – remains to be seen. The first hurdle the plaintiff’s face is getting the class approved. In a move that could be interpreted as trying the case in public, Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman, claimed “In reality, the system is fundamentally flawed, failing to reliably provide functionality, amounting to an inconvenience at best, and a serious safety issue at worst.”
By this twisted logic, if the system worked as it should have, it would also have enabled distracted driving, which could then result in a class action lawsuit for the same firm on DD charges. This is lawyer land at its best. It’s adjacent to the space created by 19th century mathematician Lewis Dodgson charted in wry detail in Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.
According to the suit, the system fails even while controlling “crucial” vehicle functions, such as the defroster and rear-view camera, which are controlled through the system, putting “drivers and passengers at risk.”
The complaint also calls out consumer complaints involving the vehicles’ GPS navigation system whereby the touchscreen will turn off, turn back on with a message saying it is “performing scheduled maintenance” leaving the driver without any directional guidance.
The lawsuit claims Ford is aware of the problem, having issued several technical service bulletins and software updates. These kind of allegations are nightmares of engineers, who in the very act of engineering – or improving the breed – become vulnerable to charges that previous iterations were defective. A society run by such types would still be walking.
In addition, the complaint lists a number of consumer complaints in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s database, all from people issues with the touchscreen system.
The lawsuit seeks to represent a class of individuals who are current or former owners of vehicles with the systems installed. It seeks compensation for members of the proposed class for violations of consumer protection laws and breach of express and implied warranties.
Ford Motor did not immediately have any comment.
