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Ford to appeal $1.7 billion verdict against it in Georgia truck crash case
Posted on 8/22/22 at 6:42 pm
Posted on 8/22/22 at 6:42 pm
quote:
The US automaker Ford has promised to appeal a $1.7bn verdict leveled against it in connection with a pickup truck crash that killed a Georgia couple, a manufacturer representative said on Sunday.
Jurors in Gwinnett county, just north-east of Atlanta, returned the verdict late last week in a yearslong civil case centering on what the plaintiffs’ lawyers argued were dangerously defective roofs on the Ford pickup involved in the crash and other vehicles like it, lawyer James Butler Jr said Sunday.
Melvin and Voncile Hill were killed in April 2014 when their 2002 Ford F-250 crashed and rolled over. Their children, Kim and Adam Hill, subsequently pursued a wrongful death lawsuit against Ford.
According to the Hill family’s attorneys, the plaintiffs pursued the litigation in hopes of warning motorists about the trucks’ roofs. Ford defends its products’ quality and plans to appeal, seeking to reduce the amount of the fine, if not wipe it away entirely.
“An award of punitive damages to hopefully warn people riding around in the millions of those trucks Ford sold was the reason the Hill family insisted on a verdict,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys said.
On Thursday, a day before the verdict was delivered, the jury awarded the family of Melvin and Voncile Hill $24m in compensatory damages. According to the family’s attorneys, the jury allocated 70% of the blame to Ford.
The other 30% of blame was allocated to Pep Boys, an automotive service chain that the jury said installed the wrong-sized tires on the Hills’s truck, resulting in the accident.
quote:
“While our sympathies go out to the Hill family, we do not believe the verdict is supported by the evidence, and we plan to appeal,” Ford said in a statement to the Associated Press on Sunday.
Nonetheless, Butler insisted that the evidence in the case was stunning. “I used to buy Ford trucks,” he said on Sunday. “I thought nobody would sell a truck with a roof this weak. The damn thing is useless in a wreck. You might as well drive a convertible.”
In closing arguments, lawyers hired by Ford defended the actions of the US car manufacturing firm as well as its engineers.
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Posted on 8/22/22 at 6:48 pm to John88
Posted on 8/22/22 at 6:51 pm to soccerfüt
Looking at that picture:
Makes no sense, the tires aren't even matching tread. Homie was running on at least one spare.
quote:
The other 30% of blame was allocated to Pep Boys, an automotive service chain that the jury said installed the wrong-sized tires on the Hills’s truck, resulting in the accident.
Makes no sense, the tires aren't even matching tread. Homie was running on at least one spare.
Posted on 8/22/22 at 6:52 pm to soccerfüt
Picture has one of the deceased in it with arm out the window...might wanna NSFW it.
Posted on 8/22/22 at 6:52 pm to John88
An appeal is never surprising, especially on a 1.7b verdict.
Posted on 8/22/22 at 6:55 pm to Mid Iowa Tiger
quote:
Makes no sense, the tires aren't even matching tread. Homie was running on at least one spare.
Yeah and look at that front one. Zero tread...it was either bald or shredded probably causing the wreck.
But it's Fords fault.
Posted on 8/22/22 at 6:57 pm to IT_Dawg
NSFW
Happy?
Not as graphic as Jackie O crawling on the limo trunk trying to get a piece of JFK’s noggin.
Happy?
Not as graphic as Jackie O crawling on the limo trunk trying to get a piece of JFK’s noggin.
Posted on 8/22/22 at 7:02 pm to John88
quote:
James Butler Jr
Same lawyer who won the infamous exploding gas tanks lawsuit back in the day.
Posted on 8/22/22 at 7:15 pm to John88
And now an F150 will cost more than a house note so Ford can cover stupid shite like this.
Posted on 8/22/22 at 7:18 pm to John88
Alexander Shunnarrah billboard ad must have worked
Posted on 8/22/22 at 7:20 pm to DMAN1968
quote:
Yeah and look at that front one. Zero tread...it was either bald or shredded probably causing the wreck.
But it's Fords fault.
I don't know whose "fault" it is but to assume the condition of the tire is the same as it was before it ended up upside down after a major collision is pretty stupid.
Who knows what forces all 4 tires experienced during the collision?
I'm against excessive jury verdicts but looking at one photo on the interwebs doesn't result in an accurate accident reconstruction analysis either.
Posted on 8/22/22 at 7:25 pm to John88
I believe it's unreasonable to expect Ford, for other product manufacturers, to protect you against extreme scenarios. In Austin about 5 years ago, there was a guy dropping large rocks or concrete chunks from bridges over I-35. He killed some people and injured others when the Rock crashed through some innocent person's windshield.
I don't remember anyone blaming the auto manufacturers for making a week windshield. Automakers can't be expected to protect you from rare occurrences like falling rocks or extreme crashes. To flatten the roof, they probably had to hit it with so significant force and/or speed. If you simply roll that truck upside down, I doubt the roof would collapse like that.
The moral of my story is take personal responsibility and try not to get yourself in a situation where your pickup ends up upside down.
I don't remember anyone blaming the auto manufacturers for making a week windshield. Automakers can't be expected to protect you from rare occurrences like falling rocks or extreme crashes. To flatten the roof, they probably had to hit it with so significant force and/or speed. If you simply roll that truck upside down, I doubt the roof would collapse like that.
The moral of my story is take personal responsibility and try not to get yourself in a situation where your pickup ends up upside down.
Posted on 8/22/22 at 7:25 pm to theRealJesseD
The body of the truck looks in damn good shape compared to the completely collapsed cabin. I wonder if Ford designed the support columns stand up to the added weight associated with the F250.
Posted on 8/22/22 at 7:45 pm to MikeD
quote:
The body of the truck looks in damn good shape compared to the completely collapsed cabin. I wonder if Ford designed the support columns stand up to the added weight associated with the F250.
I can assure you rollover performance is a part of every vehicle's design and testing and there are benchmarks for those criteria.
It's sad for this family that their loved ones are gone. But if Ford designed the truck to the current standards when it was manufactured they have done their due diligence.
Posted on 8/22/22 at 7:48 pm to AndyCBR
quote:
I don't know whose "fault" it is but to assume the condition of the tire is the same as it was before it ended up upside down after a major collision is pretty stupid.
Who knows what forces all 4 tires experienced during the collision?
There is no doubt that the rear passenger tire is an entirely different tire than the front passenger and rear driver side tire. Like, vastly different. Two are definitely off-road tires and the right passenger tire is something entirely different.
Posted on 8/22/22 at 7:55 pm to Basura Blanco
quote:
There is no doubt that the rear passenger tire is an entirely different tire than the front passenger and rear driver side tire. Like, vastly different. Two are definitely off-road tires and the right passenger tire is something entirely different.
OK. So have YOU analyzed those effects on the collision in question as part of an accurate accident reconstruction analysis?
My only point is one photo, especially in this case, doesn't tell the whole story or prove who was "at fault" by any stretch of the imagination.
I would hope the judge and jury received more information than one photograph...
Posted on 8/22/22 at 8:01 pm to DamnGood86
quote:
I don't remember anyone blaming the auto manufacturers for making a week windshield.
Should have probably spent at least a month on it
Posted on 8/22/22 at 8:08 pm to AndyCBR
Anyone notice the hand underneath the crushed cab…pretty disturbing.
Posted on 8/22/22 at 8:08 pm to AndyCBR
quote:
OK. So have YOU analyzed those effects on the collision in question as part of an accurate accident reconstruction analysis?
No. But I do have eyes and deductive reasoning. The tires are different. Ford doesn't install different type tires on new vehicles, so a third party had to have done it. That's it. That's the entirety of my post. I have no idea if the tires had any affect on the accident or not.
But reading the article, obviously the jury thought they did as they assigned 30% of the blame to Pep Boys who apparently installed the tire(s).
Posted on 8/22/22 at 8:10 pm to Basura Blanco
Anyone notice the hand underneath the crushed cab? Pretty disturbing.
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