A jury has directed Japnese auto major, Toyota, to pay whopping $242 million (nearly ₹1,690 crore) to a Dallas family after over the defects in their Lexus which caused injuries to their two children during a rear-end collision.
The verdict by the jury in Dallas County District Court includes more than $143.6 million in punitive damages after jurors agreed that the actions of Lexus-maker Toyota Motor Corp and Toyota Motor Sales amounted to gross negligence, the Law Offices of Frank L. Branson said in a statement.
The collision involving the family’s 2002 Lexus ES 300 sedan took place in September 2016. The 3-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter of Benjamin and Kristi Reavis were in the car’s back seat, in child safety seats, the statement said.
ALSO READ: Apple car could be a reality by 2023
Reportedly, the jury found that the sedan’s front seats “were unreasonably dangerous and the defendants failed to warn about those dangers.”
“The automaker made a conscious decision to protect front-seat occupants from crash injuries like whiplash at the expense of rear-seat passengers,” attorney Frank Branson said in the statement.
Toyota said it would consider its options going forward.
“While we respect the jury’s decision, we remain confident that the injuries sustained were the result of factors specific to this very severe collision, not a defect in the design or manufacturing of the 2002 Lexus ES300,” a Toyota spokesman said in an emailed statement.