WASHINGTON DC – A jury found Chrysler responsible in the death of a 4-year-old Georgia boy in a fiery Jeep crash and ordered the auto maker to pay $150 million in damages.
The verdict caps a trial that renewed scrutiny of older sport-utility vehicles with fuel tanks that regulators spotlighted as vulnerable in rear-end collisions, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
After deliberating for less than two hours on Thursday, the jury in Bainbridge, Ga., found the auto maker was to blame for Remington Walden�s March 2012 death. The fuel tank installed behind the rear axle on the SUV he was riding in, a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee, leaked after a pickup truck rear-ended it, setting the vehicle ablaze. The Jeep�s manufacturer, Chrysler, is now called FCA US LLC and part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV.
The jury found the company acted with “reckless or wanton disregard for human life in the design or sale� of the Jeep SUV and failed to warn that the vehicle was hazardous.
A Fiat Chrysler spokesman expressed disappointment in the verdict and said the company would consider an appeal. The spokesman said it was “unfortunate� the jury couldn�t consider data submitted to federal regulators that led the government to determine the vehicle didn�t pose “an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety.�
The company in 2013 agreed to recall millions of Jeep Grand Cherokee and Liberty SUVs with model years ranging from 1993 to 2007 to address concerns about their fuel tanks. The Grand Cherokee at the center of the Georgia lawsuit is among a set of vehicles the company is inspecting as part of a “customer satisfaction campaign� in lieu of a recall. The company is installing trailer hitches on the backs of Jeeps to add protection in lower-speed collisions.
