$132M Awarded In Ford Rollover Crash
A Jasper County (Mississippi) jury has awarded the family of a young man killed in a rollover crash in 2001 $132 million – the largest award ever against Ford in a lawsuit involving a Ford Explorer or a Ford Expedition reports the Clarion-Ledger.
The 22-year-old, a Meridian High School standout and a top New York Mets baseball prospect, was killed in March 2001 when he was thrown from a 2001 Ford Explorer. He was driving to spring training in Port St. Lucie, Fl., when he veered to avoid a vehicle and the Ford SUV rolled over. The lawsuit blamed the death on a defective seatbelt and the tendency for that model Ford to rollover. Ford settled for an undisclosed amount in the punitive-damage phase of the lawsuit.
A passenger in the Ford Explorer received $1.5 million for the injuries he sustained in the crash.
Ford’s corporate spokesman stated excessive speed and the fact the victim was not wearing a seat belt caused the young man’s death.
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an $82.6 million verdict awarded to a woman in California who was paralyzed in an Explorer rollover.
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Labels: Automobile Accidents, Defective Product, Product Liablilty, Wrongful DeathPosted by 2:46 pm