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Ford is hurting after a Georgia court ordered the automaker to pay a whopping $2.5 billion to the family of a couple killed back in 2022. They were riding in a Super Duty pickup when it rolled, the roof caving in and crushing them both. A jury in the case found Ford was mostly at fault for their deaths.
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The couple were driving down a road in Decatur County back in August 2022 when their 2015 Ford F-250 Super Duty hit a drainage culvert at a driveway. The pickup went airborne for approximately 81 feet before it hit the ground and rolled, reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Attorneys for the couple’s children argued in court that all 1999 to 2016 Super Duty trucks have “indisputably weak” roofs in comparison to the F-150. The jury seemed to agree with that sentiment.
A spokesperson for Ford said the automaker will be appealing the verdict, calling it “impermissibly extreme and not supported by the evidence.”
Previously, Ford was ordered by a court, also in Georgia, to pay out $1.7 billion for a similar rollover accident resulting in a fatality. The verdict was the previous record for the most awarded in a lawsuit for the state, but this latest one is now the new record.
Ford just can’t catch a break lately, having been hit with the second-highest penalty ever issued by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration to the tune of $165 million back in November.
The automaker has also dealt with an abnormal number of recalls in the past year.
In June of last year, Ford was ordered to pay an Expedition owner almost $57 million. The owner’s leg was broken thanks to a defect in the SUV. Some have argued the amount was excessive. One could argue this latest order of $2.5 billion is far more extreme.
With verdicts like this in lawsuits against Ford, one has to wonder how this will affect all automakers going forward.
Image via Kristen Kunzman/Facebook Marketplace
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