Ford Truck Roof Collapse Jury Verdict Costs Manufacturer $2.5 Billion

A Georgia jury has rendered a $2.5 billion verdict against Ford in a wrongful death lawsuit concerning a 2015 Ford F-250 Super Crew 4x4 King Ranch truck. In August 2022, driver Debra Mills, 64, lost control of the vehicle during a right-hand turn, causing it to veer onto the shoulder, strike a drainage culvert, and become airborne for approximately 80 feet. The truck landed upside down, resulting in the deaths of Debra and her husband, Herman Mills, 74, who was the passenger.

The lawsuit, filed by the Mills family, alleged that Ford had been aware for two decades that the roofs of over 5 million Super Duty trucks produced between 1999 and 2016 were "dangerously weak, defective, and deadly." This case mirrors another Georgia lawsuit where a jury awarded $1.7 billion to the family of Voncile and Melvin Hill, who died in a similar Super Duty rollover crash. However, that verdict was later overturned, and a new trial was ordered.

Despite these jury decisions, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has not identified any issues with the roofs of these Ford Super Duty trucks.