The American car manufacturer Ford was forced to pay 1.7 billion dollars in compensation for a manufacturing defect in one of its models that led to the death of a couple in Georgia in 2014, writes the American press with reference to France Presse.

Although car accident awards often exceed $1 million, the amount awarded in this case is one of the largest ever.

After the verdict handed down by a Gwinnett County jury on Friday and reported by several US media outlets, Ford told the Wall Street Journal on Sunday that it plans to appeal the decision, which the company said was “not supported by the evidence.”

Melvin and Vonsil Hill’s F-250 Super Duty truck overturned due to a flat tire while driving on the road near Americus, Georgia.

The roof of the overturned car collapsed, trapping the couple in the cabin.

After the accident, the two children of the couple went to court and accused Ford of a design defect in the model, which, according to documents cited by American media, has been involved in dozens of other similar accidents.

During the three-week trial, Ford’s lawyers cited several design and safety studies that they said showed the roof was strong enough to withstand such an impact.

But the jury still found the Dearborn, Michigan-based company responsible, saying it made about 5.2 million units of the model between 1999 and 2016 before the roof was strengthened in 2017.

$1.7 billion is for so-called punitive damages, which exceed the harm caused to the victim(s) and are intended to punish the wrongdoer’s conduct.

They are often proportional to the financial capabilities of the person or organization involved.

On Thursday, the same jury separately ordered Ford and the Pep Boys auto service chain (for installing the wrong set of tires) to pay $24 million in damages for the injuries caused to Hill’s children.

(Article photo © Jonathan Weiss | Dreamstime.com)