Georgia Car Accidents Leads To $1.7 Billion Damages Against Ford Automaker

In mid-November, the families of a couple who died in a tragic rollover accident here in Georgia due to a dangerously defective roof on their F-250 Ford Motor Co. pickup truck asked the courts to maintain the $1.7 billion verdict that was entered against Ford the previous week. The case marked a landmark decision in product liability and wrongful death, sending an important message to companies who make products that can quite literally make the difference between life and death in terms of their everyday use by consumers.

Unfortunately, a number of consumers remain at risk because this safety issue is not limited to the F-250 pickups: Reportedly, one of Ford’s best sellers, the F-150 pickup, has a very similar roof design, and this model has been the best selling vehicle throughout the US for more than four decades.

Circumstances Warranting Punitive Damages

The main crux of the case was the assertion that the company and its engineers acted willfully and wantonly, with a conscious indifference for the safety of those who ride in their cars, when they designed and produced these roofs. The jury specifically found that Ford knew of the issue years before this particular accident, other deaths resulted from the same flaw, and the company was very slow to correct the issue. In addition, evidence introduced indicates that Ford’s engineers had already designed a safer roof for the trucks prior to this accident, but the automaker was too slow to install them.

More than five million trucks have reportedly been built with this same roof and evidence indicating that close to at least 80 similar rollover wrecks that involved the trucks’ roofs being crushed, leading to motorist and passenger injuries or deaths, was also introduced at trial. Still, Ford has now requested a new trial, arguing that they were unfairly precluded from defending against the product liability claims.

Georgia’s Law

In this particular verdict, $24 million in compensatory damages was awarded to the couple’s family, with the remaining $1.7 billion in additional damages awarded by a judge recently, in part to have a punitive effect on the company. Still, it is important to note that, while the damages award is an important message sent to automakers concerning consumer safety, in product liability cases like these, Georgia law dictates that 75 percent of awards like these automatically go to the state. Plaintiffs are only able to obtain the full amount of punitive awards if a settlement is reached between the parties.

Macon, Georgia Product Liability & Accident Attorneys

If you or a loved one has been injured due to an egregious defect like this, contact our Macon product liability attorneys at the Law Offices of Buzzell, Welsh & Hill to find out how we can be of assistance.

Sources:

law360.com/trials/articles/1549617/plaintiffs-ask-ga-judge-to-keep-1-7b-verdict-against-ford

cnn.com/2022/08/22/business/ford-1-7-billion-dollar-verdict/index.html