An American woman sued Ford for $56 million because of a broken leg in an accident (2 photos)
The court ruled to pay the American $56 million in compensation for an accident allegedly caused by a defect in the Ford Expedition. Ford representatives claim that no faults were found in the car and are preparing to file an appeal. 
Ford Motor Company must pay more than $56 million to an American woman injured in an accident. This decision was made by the Colorado State Court.
The incident before the court took place on December 27, 2016. Lauren Thompson crashed her 1998 Ford Expedition SUV into a mailbox on the street.
After the accident, she got out of the car to assess the extent of the damage, slipped and fell. At this time, the SUV suddenly drove back and ran over the American woman’s leg. She broke her tibia and fibula.
The plaintiff claims that the cause of the incident was a defect in the Ford gearbox - they say it voluntarily switched to reverse mode. Similar problems occurred on American-made cars in the 80s. 
At the same time, representatives of Ford Motor claim that evidence of the SUV’s malfunction was never presented in court. It is possible that after the accident, the American simply did not switch the gearbox to Parking mode and did not put the car on the parking brake.
The lawsuits have continued since 2018, with the Colorado state court initially siding with Ford and dismissing the lawsuit. However, they then decided to reconsider the case and, despite Ford’s request to move the trial to Michigan, the court in Colorado took up the matter again.
The jury found the automaker liable for the defect in the Ford Expedition and the court ordered the victim Lauren Thompson to pay $56,575,000 in compensation, as well as $45 million in fines. However, Ford Motor lawyers are preparing for an appeal.
"While we sympathize with Ms. Thompson and respect the jury's decision, we do not believe the verdict is supported by the evidence. We will consider appeal options," Ford spokesman Richard Binhammer said.
