A Georgia jury has ordered Ford Motor Co. to pay $1.7 billion to the orphaned children of a couple killed in a pickup truck crash. According to a report by <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ford-f250-truck-crash-1-7-billion-jury-award-melvin-hill-voncile-hill/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CBS News</a>, the company plans to appeal the verdict, which was returned by jurors in Gwinnett County late last week. The jury's ruling marks the culmination of a years-long civil case, in which Kim and Adam Hill sued Ford over the 2014 death of their parents, Melvin and Voncile, who were killed in the rollover wreck of the 2002 Ford F-250. Plaintiffs Kim and Adam claimed the Ford pickup truck had a dangerously defective roof that failed to protect their parents adequately. <img class="size-large wp-image-1263166322" src="https://img.vt.co/2022/08/Screenshot-2022-08-23-at-14.17.20-1024x574.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="574" />[[imagecaption|| Credit: Butler Prather LLP]] Their lawyer, James Butler Jr. said on Sunday (August 21) that the evidence presented by the case was shocking, and that the pickup truck roof was so flimsy it might as well have been a "convertible". "I used to buy Ford trucks. I thought nobody would sell a truck with a roof this weak. The damn thing is useless in a wreck. You might as well drive a convertible," he said. The plaintiff's legal team cited evidence from nearly 80 similar rollover wrecks in which truck roofs had been crushed and motorists had been injured or killed. <img class="wp-image-1263166275 size-full" src="https://img.vt.co/2022/08/MC930M-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1707" />[[imagecaption|| Credit: Kristoffer Tripplaar / Alamy]] Butler's co-counsel, Gerald Davidson, said in the statement that "more deaths and severe injuries are certain because millions of these trucks are on the road." "An award of punitive damages to hopefully warn people riding around in the millions of those trucks Ford sold was the reason the Hill family insisted on a verdict," Butler added. Ford's legal team defended the company and its engineers. Defense lawyer William Withrow Jr. said in his closing arguments: "Ford and its engineers acted willfully and wantonly, with a conscious indifference for the safety of the people who ride in their cars when they made these decisions about roof strength." <img class="wp-image-1263166276 size-full" src="https://img.vt.co/2022/08/ford-1.jpg" alt="" width="1535" height="800" />[[imagecaption|| Credit: Jerry Bernard / Alamy]] Meanwhile, in a statement following the jury's verdict, the Michigan-based automaker continued to deny culpability in the Hills' death. "While our sympathies go out to the Hill family, we do not believe the verdict is supported by the evidence, and we plan to appeal," the company said in a statement to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ford-f250-truck-crash-1-7-billion-jury-award-melvin-hill-voncile-hill/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Associated Press</a> on Sunday. <h6>Featured Image Credit: Askar Karimullin / Alamy</h6>

Ford ordered to pay brother and sister $1.7 billion after their parents were killed in crash

Top Stories

News

Man, 20, sent devastating final text to dad after being stabbed

News

Teen blasts bystanders who filmed her when a shark tore off her arm

News

Firefighters save elderly dog after she fell 23 feet down utility hole while looking for treats

News

Inmates bust out of jail using a toothbrush and head straight to local IHOP

News

Vegan driver's license plate is recalled after state officials deem it too vulgar to be on the road

News

'Hero' CrossFit coach and father drown after saving wife from rip current while scattering ashes