Top Auto and Products Liability Verdicts

A man riding his bicycle to work in Baton Rouge one spring day executed a left turn and was struck by a car from behind. The man was propelled onto the car’s hood and then fell onto the road injuring his back, head, hip, leg, lung, ribs and shoulders requiring considerable treatment, surgery and rehabilitation. The driver was found negligent.

Because the driver was driving on company time when the accident occurred, the plaintiff sued the driver’s employer and their primary insurer. After the insurance company tendered its $1 million policy, the driver’s employer remained liable for over $10 million more.³

$11,929,722

A 22-year-old man, driving his pickup truck with his father beside him in the passenger seat, crossed through an intersection in northern Illinois. The driver of another pickup truck failed to heed the intersection’s stop sign. He struck the pickup at 50 mph, causing both trucks to rollover. The father and son were pronounced dead at the scene.

The operator of the vehicle that ran the stop sign was found to be driving under the influence of marijuana and was charged with reckless homicide. The deceased’s family sued him and his employer for $9 million.⁴

$9,000,000

It wasn’t supposed to happen, but it did. While a mechanic was repairing a vehicle, an engine latch failed causing the vehicle’s 475-pound cab to fall and crush him. The mechanic died in the ambulance, en route to the hospital.

The manufacturer of the latch was found liable for a defective design and for not properly testing the latch. The jury awarded $10 million in aggravating circumstances damages and $3 million in compensatory damages to the mechanic’s family.⁵

$13,000,000