Jury Finds Ford Must Pay $2.5 Billion After 2 Die in Super Duty Crash
A jury in Columbus, Georgia has ordered the Ford Motor Company to pay up to the sum of $2.5 billion after a rollover crash in one of the brand's pickup truck killed two occupants.
The accident happened in August of 2022, when Debra Mills, 64, lost control of her 2015 Ford F-250 Super Duty. Authorities said that after leaving the roadway, the truck hit a drainage culvert and then went airborne for roughly 80 feet before landing on its roof. Mills and her husband, Herman Mills, 74, both died as a result of the crash.
Family members went on to sue Ford for wrongful death alleging that the roof of the F-250 was too weak and that the automaker knew it. In fact, the jury heard arguments that more than 5 million Super Duty pickup trucks from between 1999 and 2016 have suspect roofs. (Ford did not respond with a comment as of this story's publication; we'll update this piece accordingly if we hear back.)
The jury's ruling for $2.5 billion in punitive damages comes on the heels of a ruling by the same jury last Thursday, issuing a verdict against the carmaker for $30.5 million in compensatory damages in the same trial.
'Ford has known for 26 years that people were getting killed and hurt by these weak roofs,' said James 'Jim' Butler Jr., lead counsel for the Mills family, according to the Ledger-Enquirer. 'Ford has constantly refused to admit the danger or warn of the risk.'
The strength-to-weight ratio of trucks in the suspect class is 1.1, according to the lawsuit. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, meanwhile, requires a ratio of 4.0 to rate a vehicle as "good."
A spokesperson for Ford told The Ledger-Enquirer says that the vehicles' roofs are "not defective," and that the automaker plans to appeal the ruling. Notably, that appeal strategy did just work for it in a separate but similar matter: In 2022, a jury awarded $1.7 billion in damages to a plaintiff in another roof-crushing case. The Court of Appeals in Georgia has since wiped that judgment out, however, and granted Ford a new trial. According to CarComplaints.com, "Out of about 5.2 million 1999-2016 trucks, there were 79 similar collapsed roof incidents introduced into evidence," in that case.You Might Also Like
You Need a Torque Wrench in Your Toolbox
Tested: Best Car Interior Cleaners
The Man Who Signs Every Car
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Canada plans to hit NATO spending target early and reduce reliance on US defense, Carney says
Canada will meet NATO's military spending guideline by early next year and diversify defense spending away from the United States, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Monday, asserting that Washington no longer plays a predominant role on the world stage. The announcement means Canada will achieve NATO's spending target of 2% of gross domestic product five years earlier than previously planned. 'Our military infrastructure and equipment have aged, hindering our military preparedness,' Carney said. 'Only one of our four submarines is seaworthy. Less than half of our maritime fleet and land vehicles are operational. More broadly, we are too reliant on the United States.' According to NATO figures, Canada was estimated to be spending 1.45% of GDP on its military budget, below the 2% target that NATO countries have set for themselves. Canada previously said it was on track to meet NATO's target by the end of the decade. 'Our goal is to protect Canadians, not to satisfy NATO accountants,' Carney said in a speech at the University of Toronto. Canada is about to host US President Donald Trump and other leaders at a summit of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations in Alberta on June 15-17, and before the NATO summit in Europe. NATO allies are poised to increase the commitment well beyond the 2% target. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said last week that most US allies at NATO endorse Trump's demand that they invest 5% of gross domestic product on their defense needs and are ready to ramp up security spending even more. 'We are meeting 2%. And that is the NATO target as it is today,' Carney said at a later news conference. 'We will need to spend more.' He said there will be discussions on the increased spending amount and its timeline at the NATO summit. Carney has said he intends to diversify Canada's procurement and enhance the country's relationship with the EU. 'We should no longer send three-quarters of our defense capital spending to America,' Carney said in a speech at the University of Toronto. 'We will invest in new submarines, aircraft, ships, armed vehicles and artillery, as well as new radar, drones and sensors to monitor the seafloor and the Arctic.' Canada has been in discussions with the European Union to join an EU drive to break its security dependency on the United States, with a focus on buying more defense equipment, including fighter jets, in Europe. Carney's government is reviewing the purchase of U.S. F-35 fighter jets to see if there are other options. 'We stood shoulder to shoulder with the Americans throughout the Cold War and in the decades that followed, as the United States played a predominant role on the world stage. Today, that predominance is a thing of the past,' Carney said in French, one of Canada's official languages. He added that with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the United States became the global hegemon, noting that its strong gravitational pull became virtually irresistible and made the US 'our closest ally and dominant trading partner.' 'Now the United States is beginning to monetize its hegemony: charging for access to its markets and reducing its relative contributions to our collective security,' Carney said. Trump's calls to make Canada the 51st US state have infuriated Canadians, and Carney won the job of prime minister after promising to confront the increased aggression shown by Trump. The prime minister said 'a new imperialism threatens.' Carney said the long-held view that Canada's geographic location will protect Canadians is increasingly archaic. The government is adding $9 billion Canadian (US$6.6 billion) in spending this year and Carney said the Canadian Coast Guard will be now be a part of the military. European allies and Canada have already been investing heavily in their armed forces, as well as on weapons and ammunition, since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
Car and Driver
2 hours ago
- Car and Driver
2025 Ford Bronco Prices Adjusted, Raptor Base Price Drops by $10K
Ford is updating the pricing of the 2025 Bronco SUV partway through the year. The Raptor now costs $10,040 less, and the Badlands also gets a $1000 discount. Other Bronco models get pricier, with the base trim—both in two-door and four-door form—increasing by $1000. Ford is preparing a raft of pricing changes for the expansive Bronco lineup. According to a report from Ford Authority via Bronco Nation, Ford is planning to adjust pricing for six different versions of its boxy off-road SUV. While some Bronco models will see a slight increase, other trims—such as the high-performance Bronco Raptor—are set for a substantial price cut. The burly Raptor model is the biggest mover with a reported $10,040 decrease, taking its base price from $90,035 to $79,995. That's a massive reduction, and it takes the Bronco Raptor's cost back towards where it was in 2023, before its pricing took a massive jump for the 2024 model year. The other Bronco receiving a discount is another enthusiast-focused model, the Badlands, which in four-door specification sees its price go down by $1000 to $50,385. View Photos Ford Some Bronco models will get more expensive, however. While the four-door Badlands gets a price cut, the two-door Badlands will see its price rise by $290. The two-door base model, meanwhile, receives a price hike of $1000, putting the entry point at $38,995. The same increase applies to the base four-door model, which starts at the same $38,995 price, while the four-door Big Bend variant goes up by $850 to $41,220. The prices listed above do not include the destination fee, which Car and Driver usually reports as part of the price. According to the report from Ford Authority, the destination fee will also increase by $100 to $1995. The cost of selecting the 10-speed automatic on trims where it is not standard is now $300 pricier, and three colors—Velocity Blue, Desert Sand, and Marsh Gray—now cost $395, $100 more than before. These prices took effect earlier this month and already appear on the online configurator on Ford's website. We've reached out to Ford to confirm these changes and for a statement regarding the substantial price reduction on the Bronco Raptor. We will update this story if we hear back. Caleb Miller Associate News Editor Caleb Miller began blogging about cars at 13 years old, and he realized his dream of writing for a car magazine after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and joining the Car and Driver team. He loves quirky and obscure autos, aiming to one day own something bizarre like a Nissan S-Cargo, and is an avid motorsports fan.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Attorney general blasts governor's veto of bill to rein in price fixing
Attorney General Aaron Ford and Gov. Joe Lombardo. (Photo: Richard Bednarski/Nevada Current) Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford said Monday that Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo's veto of Ford's legislation to crack down on price fixing 'means fewer protections for your wallet.' Lombardo, in his veto message last week, blasted the bill as 'a striking case of government overreach' and 'inherently broad and open to wide interpretation, likely making enforcement subjective and inconsistent.' Assembly Bill 44 sought to expand the state's existing Unfair Trade Practice Act to include knowingly deceptive price fixing of essential goods and services, defining those goods as things 'needed on a daily or recurring basis for the livelihood of a person.' The list of essential goods defined by the bill included housing, food, internet service, ground transportation, and pharmaceutical and other medical products. 'Let's be clear about what this veto means,' said Ford, who has indicated he hopes to take Lombardo's job away from him in next year's election, in a statement Monday. 'It means fewer tools to hold bad corporations accountable. It means fewer protections for your wallet. And it means more power for the people who rig the rules against all of us in the Nevada family.' During his presentations of AB 44, Ford told lawmakers the legislation was designed to bolster consumer protections and wouldn't apply to businesses if they weren't engaging in fraudulent practices. The legislation passed the Assembly 24-18 in April with three Democrats, Assemblymembers Joe Dalia, Duy Nguyen and Venise Karris, joining Republicans in opposing the measure. AB 44 passed the Senate 14-7 in late May, with Republican state Sen. John Steinbeck joining Democrats. The veto showed Lombardo sided 'with corporations that cheat and deceive to make a buck,' Ford said Monday, adding that Lombardo's decision was 'disappointing, but not surprising.' While the bill encompassed several categories of goods and services, perhaps its most notable feature was an attempt to rein in price fixing in the rental market. Landlords and property owners across the country, including in Nevada, have come under fire in recent years for using rent-fixing software to artificially raise the price of rents. Real estate software companies, like RealPage, have been sued by several state attorneys general and the federal government in the last year, though the companyRealPage has denied wrongdoing in these cases. During the legislative session, rental property owners and real estate groups likened the bill's efforts to address price fixing as 'rent control.' 'This bill does not cap in any kind of way how much someone can charge for something as long as they aren't knowingly, fraudulently or deceptively engaging in conduct,' Ford said in a March bill hearing. 'You can charge what you want to charge.'
