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A Lafayette-based trailer manufacturing company must pay $462 million to the families of two men killed in a 2019 crash involving one of the company’s trailers.
A St. Louis jury handed down a decision in favor of the victims’ families on Thursday in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis.
In May 2019, a Volkswagen driven by Taron Tailor collided with the back of a trailer manufactured by Wabash. The Volkswagen went under the trailer and the trailer’s rear-impact guard failed, according to court documents.
The crash killed Tailor and his passenger, Nicholas Perkins.
In filing the lawsuit, the victims’ families claimed Wabash was negligent and manufactured a defective product which was then involved in the crash.
In a release posted to its website on Friday, Wabash said the crash occurred nearly two decades after the trailer involved was manufactured in compliance with existing regulatory standards.
The company said the jury was prevented from hearing crucial evidence in the case, including that at the time of the crash, the driver’s blood alcohol level was above the legal limit.
The jury was also not informed that neither the driver nor the passenger were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash, despite plaintiffs arguing the men could’ve survived had the vehicle not broken through the guard, Wabash said.
“While this was a tragic accident, we respectfully disagree with the jury’s verdict and firmly believe it is not supported by the facts or the law,” said Wabash’s General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer Kristin Glazner in the release. “No rear impact guard or trailer safety technology has ever existed that would have made a difference here.”
The company said it is evaluating all legal options in response to the verdict.
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