Posted
11/19/2005 04:55:00 PM
by Douglas
I realize that suing Ford because you're too stupid or careless to control your SUV was the
in thing to do for a while, but surely a jury wouldn't award $61 Million because someone died because the driver fell asleep at the wheel, right?
Wrong.A jury has ordered Ford Motor Co. to pay $61 million to the parents of a 17-year-old who died when the Ford Explorer in which he was riding rolled over, a lawyer said on Thursday.
In the Florida case, teenager Lance Hall was a passenger in the Explorer his friend was driving when it flipped over on Alligator Alley between Naples and Miami in 1997.
The jury awarded his mother and father, who are divorced, $61 million in compensatory damages. It did not award punitive damages.
In a statement, Ford expressed its condolences to Hall's family, but said the accident occurred when the driver of the Explorer fell asleep at the wheel.
Why do lawyers as for it? Because juries are dumb enough to give it to them.