Georgia Supreme Court Upholds $40M Fatal Jeep Fire Award

The Georgia State Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously upheld a $40 million award to the family of a four-year-old boy killed in 2012 when the 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee in which he was riding was rear-ended and burst into flames.A lower court in 2015 reduced a jury verdict from nearly $150 million to $40 million. Fiat Chrysler spokesman Michael Palese said the company was “disappointed in this decision. We are considering our legal options.” The Jeep’s fuel tank was placed near the back of the vehicle, which plaintiffs said made it vulnerable to rear-end collisions. The Supreme Court ruling said “evidence showed that Chrysler had long known that mounting a gas tank behind the rear axle was dangerous.