Wrongful Death Verdict: $25 Million For Failing To Install Backup Alarm On Dump Truck
27 Jul 2007
Alabama - Bennie Little, 28, was killed on an asphalt paving construction project when an F600 dump truck, being used as a water truck, backed over him. Little did not see or hear the truck prior to it striking him and knocking him to the ground. He was crushed when the back tires of the truck rolled over him; he died within an hour.
Who was legally responsible for the death of Bennie Little? In this case different actions by separate corporations combined to cause the harm.
Suit was brought against Ford Motor Company, which designed and manufactured the chassis cab, and Fontaine Truck Equipment Company, which designed and installed the dump body on the Ford chassis cab prior to it being sold.
It is not unusual for dump trucks and other types of specialty vehicles to be an assembly of a cab/chassis and a truck body. The same circumstance is common with pump and mounted crane vehicles.
In order to prevent injuries from the use of unsafe vehicles the common law generally requires that the end product be reasonably fit for its intended purposes. No distinction is made between a single step manufacturing process, such as in an automobile, and a multiple step process, such as in a dump truck.
The claim against Ford was brought for failing to have properly designed mirrors that complied with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, Ford internal standards, and reasonable engineering standards. The claim was made against Fontaine Truck Company for failing to detect the defect in the mirrors and for placing the truck into the stream of commerce without including a backup alarm, a safety device used since the 1950s.
The backup alarm is an audible signal, required by OSHA regulations, that emits a sound to alert persons in the area when the truck is placed into reverse. Fontaine offered the alarms as optional equipment. Evidence revealed that the backup alarm was the best means available for minimizing or eliminating the backing hazard.
During the first day of trial, plaintiff settled with Ford for $1.25 million. Plaintiff then proceeded against Fontaine, and the jury rendered a verdict of $25 million.
Little, who earned $5 an hour, was survived by his dependent mother. Under Alabama law, a claim for wrongful death allows for punitive damages. The basis of the verdict is the gravity of the wrong and the necessity of preservation of human life by deterring wrongful conduct of others. The total verdict was punitive in nature.
