Truck Driver Awarded $160 Million in Cabin Crush Lawsuit

An Alabama jury awarded a truck driver a $160 million judgment after he was seriously injured in the truck he was driving. According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff was working, driving his truck, and carrying wood along Highway 84 when a pickup truck pulled out in front of him. The accident caused his big rig to roll over.

According to his attorneys, the crash fractured his neck due to the significant roof crush and the lack of an automatic pull-down safety seat in the cabin. The plaintiff sued Daimler Trucks North America for what he alleged was a defective cab and seat designed in 1995. A jury of 12 ruled in favor of the plaintiff, awarding him $75 million in compensatory damages and another $75 million in punitive damages against the truck manufacturer. They awarded another $10 million to the plaintiff’s wife because now she has to take care of her husband.

Daimler is likely to appeal the verdict.

Understanding cabin crush lawsuits 

Cabin crush lawsuits involve claims that a vehicle is defective because the strength of the cabin wasn’t enough to prevent the cabin from getting crushed when there is a rollover accident. So, a vehicle overturns, ends up belly-up, and the cabin of the vehicle is crushed underneath its weight, severely injuring the occupants of the cabin. In the case mentioned above, a truck driver was severely injured and broke his neck when the cabin of his vehicle was crushed after a rollover accident. This truck driver won a $160 million claim against the manufacturer of the truck, including an award of punitive damages.

As an example of a cabin crush lawsuit, Ford was recently sued over its Ford F250’s. A Georgia family filed a lawsuit against Ford after a tire blowout accident. Both occupants were killed in the accident when the cabin of the vehicle was crushed under its weight. In this case, the family sued Ford because they argued that weak cabins were prone to crushing drivers and passengers inside the vehicle during rollover accidents. A picture of the decedent’s vehicle showed the cabin crushed down to the body of the truck.

A jury determined that Ford sold over 5.2 million trucks with this defect between 1999 and 2016. All Ford F250s manufactured during this period have the alleged flaw, according to the plaintiffs. Attorneys for the plaintiffs presented evidence of nearly 80 similar cases in which the cabin was crushed during a rollover accident. Ford never issued a recall for the defective cabins. Ford was hit with a $1.7 billion verdict over the incident.

Talk to an Oakland, California Truck Accident Lawyer Today 

The Bay Area personal injury attorneys at Venardi Zurada represent the interests of plaintiffs in lawsuits alleging negligence. We serve the Bay Area from our office locations in Oakland and Walnut Creek. Call our Oakland personal injury lawyers today to schedule a consultation, and learn more about how we can help you recover damages related to your medical expenses, lost wages, and reduced quality of life.

Sources:

com/2022/08/20/jury-slams-ford-with-1-7b-verdict-over-deadly-2014-crash/

fox10tv.com/2024/09/10/clarke-county-jury-awards-man-judgment-semi-truck-accident-case/