Ford Motor Co. won reversal of an Illinois jury's $43 million damage award in a lawsuit filed after a 2003 crash killed a 73-year-old man and severely burned his wife.
The Illinois Supreme Court today threw out the verdict rendered after a 2005 trial concluding that Dora Jablonski and the estate of her husband, John, failed to prove the gas tank of their 1993 Lincoln Town Car had been defectively designed.
Their car burst into flames after being hit in the rear by another vehicle traveling at an estimated 55 to 65 miles per hour while they were stopped at a highway construction zone in southwest Illinois, causing an item in the trunk to pierce the tank.
"Plaintiffs presented insufficient evidence from which a jury could conclude that Ford breached its duty of reasonable care" on three negligent design theories, the high court said. It rejected a fourth argument as not viable under state law.
The Illinois Supreme Court today threw out the verdict rendered after a 2005 trial concluding that Dora Jablonski and the estate of her husband, John, failed to prove the gas tank of their 1993 Lincoln Town Car had been defectively designed.
Their car burst into flames after being hit in the rear by another vehicle traveling at an estimated 55 to 65 miles per hour while they were stopped at a highway construction zone in southwest Illinois, causing an item in the trunk to pierce the tank.
"Plaintiffs presented insufficient evidence from which a jury could conclude that Ford breached its duty of reasonable care" on three negligent design theories, the high court said. It rejected a fourth argument as not viable under state law.
No comments:
Post a Comment