Jury Issues $462 Million Verdict Against Wabash After Crash
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A St. Louis jury has awarded $462 million in damages against Wabash National Corp., finding the trailer manufacturer responsible for the deaths of two men in a 2019 crash when their car went underneath the rear of a tractor-trailer.
The jury awarded $450 million as punitive damages — an amount plaintiff attorney John Simon claimed the corporation saved by failing to install safer trailers over three decades. Each of the deceased men’s families received $6 million in compensatory damages.
Taron Tailor, 30, and his passenger, Nicholas Perkins, 23, died instantly when their Volkswagen CC, driven by Tailor, rear-ended a Wabash-manufactured trailer. Upon impact, the trailer’s rear impact guard tore off, allowing their vehicle to under ride the trailer, according to Simon of St. Louis-based Simon Law Firm.
In response to the verdict, Wabash National announced it is reviewing its legal options. The company characterized the incident as a 2019 collision in which a speeding passenger vehicle struck the rear of a nearly stopped Wabash trailer manufactured in 2004.
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“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 General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer Kristin Glazner. “No rear impact guard or trailer safety technology has ever existed that would have made a difference here.”
Wabash said the accident occurred nearly two decades after the trailer involved was manufactured by Wabash in compliance with all existing regulatory standards.
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“Additionally, despite precedent to the contrary, the jury was prevented from hearing critical evidence in the case, including that the driver’s blood alcohol level was over the legal limit at the time of the accident,” Wabash said. “The fact that neither the driver nor his passenger was wearing a seat belt was also kept from the jury, even though plaintiffs argued both would have survived a 55-mile-per-hour collision had the vehicle not broken through the trailer’s rear impact guard.”
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