CRASH VICTIM WINS $3.7 MILLION AWARD.

Byline: Associated Press 

A woman badly injured in an Isuzu Rodeo roll-over crash was awarded a multimillion-dollar verdict by a jury that found the auto company negligent in testing the sport utility vehicle.

Irene Gutierrez, now 23, suffered brain injuries and lost a leg in the wreck on March 21, 1996. She was one of four passengers in the vehicle when the driver lost control while changing lanes on Highway 126, and the Rodeo tipped over.

The driver, Richard Soliz, suffered a separated shoulder and the other passengers received minor injuries, said Bruce Broillet, Gutierrez's attorney.

Soliz, who allegedly was driving between 70 mph and 75 mph, previously settled with Gutierrez and was dismissed as a defendant in the lawsuit, said Christine Spagnoli, Gutierrez's attorney.

The Superior Court jury found Soliz was 55 percent responsible for the crash, but he will not have to pay any of the award because of the settlement, Spagnoli said. Isuzu was ordered to pay the remainder of the award, which adds up to about $3.7 million in combined economic and pain and suffering damages.

Gutierrez claimed Isuzu failed to properly test its 1995 Rodeo for ``roll-over resistance.''

Isuzu Motors America Inc. had yet to decide if it would appeal Friday's ruling, said Terry Maloney, vice president of corporate relations for the company. A hearing on a motion for a mistrial is set for March 23.

``The Rodeo is a very well-designed and thoroughly tested vehicle. The driver handling of this vehicle and a driver's input has much to do with how a vehicle reacts,'' he said. ``I think it's important to note in this case, the jury did not find the design of the Rodeo to be defective in any way.''

Maloney did not know if the 1995 Rodeo had been tested specifically for ``roll-over resistance'' and did not immediately respond to a request to find out the answer.

Spagnoli said that during the trial Isuzu stated it does not conduct ``roll-over resistance'' testing but does perform handling tests. The company presented evidence from its handling tests and had an outside engineer testify, Spagnoli said.

Sport utility vehicles have been criticized in recent years for a tendency to tip over, but have grown in popularity. The latest Isuzu Rodeo recently received five stars from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for protecting passengers, even though the tests that determined a side impact unexpectedly tipped the vehicle on its side.

The Isuzu Rodeo has been completely redesigned since 1995, Maloney said.

``I believe that this case is one of many cases across the country where consumers sitting on juries are telling the auto industry that they want these SUVs made to resist roll-over,'' Broillet said. ``The manufacturers have to test the vehicles to see whether a particular design is providing sufficient roll-over resistance.''

Gutierrez's attorneys had the vehicle tested for roll-over resistance on a course in San Bernardino and showed the jury video and still photographs of its findings during the trial. The attorneys claimed the SUV tipped onto two wheels when moving at 42 mph. Outriggers used in the test prevented the Rodeo from tipping over, the attorneys said.

Gutierrez, who was a student at Ventura College at the time of the crash, lives with her family and takes special classes to deal with the effects of her brain injuries, Broillet said. She suffers from memory loss and impaired judgment and uses a prosthetic replacement for a leg that was crushed so badly it had to be amputated, he said.