Ford To Challenge Truck Roof Collapse Verdict

(RTTNews) - Ford Motor Company (F) said on Tuesday that it will argue for a new trial in the Georgia truck rollover lawsuit that resulted in a $1.7 billion jury verdict. The case involves the roof strength of older-model Super Duty pickups. Some twenty years back, Ford settled several similar lawsuits alleging that people were killed or seriously injured in heavy-duty truck rollovers in which the roof collapsed.

Before the $1.7 billion jury verdict, Ford was involved in at least 58 times in lawsuits involving rollovers and allegations of roof crush on heavy-duty trucks made during that 17-year period, according to complaints identified and reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.

The Georgia lawsuit emerged from a 2014 rollover crash killing an elderly couple driving a Ford F-250 pickup. The plaintiffs' lawyers say the victims were crushed inside the truck when the roof collapsed. Ford had then argued that the trucks aren't defective and that the roof structure is safe. Review of these complaints shows that 38 people died due to the accidents cited in the lawsuits, and several were seriously injured.