San Juan Jury Awards $1.2M for Defective Underride Guard
A woman died after her Jeep Liberty collided with a municipal dump truck stopped in a highway lane. The truck's rear bumper guard was allegedly defective, allowing the Jeep to underride the truck. The woman's family sued the truck body manufacturer, alleging design and manufacturing defects. The defense argued the accident was caused by the woman's own negligence and the lack of proper signage by municipal workers.
Case Information Updated: October 2025
About Head/Brain Injury Injuries
Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) range from mild concussions to severe brain damage. Car accidents are a leading cause of TBI, with effects ranging from temporary symptoms to permanent cognitive impairment.
Case Outcome
- Outcome
- Verdict-Plaintiff
- Amount
- $6,000,000
- County
- Dallas County, PR
- Resolved
- 2015
Injury & Accident Details
- Injury Type
- Head/Brain Injury
- Accident Type
- Truck/Commercial
- Case Type
- Motor Vehicle Accident
Settlement Context
This verdict-plaintiff of $6,000,000 is near the median of $1,893,000 for head/brain injury cases resolved by verdict-plaintiff. The typical range is $93,169 to $9,140,000, based on 45 cases in our database.
Case Overview
On October 1, 2010, a 28-year-old driver died after her 2004 Jeep Liberty struck the rear passenger's side of a municipal dump truck on Highway #26 (Baldorioty de Casto Avenue) in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The dump truck was stopped or nearly stopped in a left lane as municipal employees performed road maintenance. The driver sustained massive head trauma in the collision and died six days later.
The decedent's parents and siblings filed a lawsuit against the truck body manufacturers, Truck Bodies & Equipment International Inc. and Ox Bodies Inc., alleging strict products liability and negligence. They claimed design and manufacturing defects in the dump truck's body and bumper guard, specifically a lack of adequate underride protection, were a proximate cause of the death. The defendants denied negligence, arguing their product met all applicable standards. They contended the accident resulted from the driver's own negligence or the Municipality of San Juan's failure to provide proper road work signage. A separate, similar lawsuit filed by the decedent's husband and son was settled confidentially prior to trial.
Following a trial in federal court, a jury found for the plaintiffs on the strict products liability claim, determining that the design of the truck's bumper guard caused the damages. The jury rejected the defendants' common law negligence claim and found zero percent negligence for the decedent. The jury attributed 80 percent of the negligence to the Municipality of San Juan for its failures regarding road work signage and 20 percent to Ox Bodies.
The jury awarded total damages of $6,000,000. The court subsequently molded the verdict, entering judgment against the truck manufacturers for 20 percent of the total award, proportional to the negligence attributed to Ox Bodies. This resulted in a final judgment of $1,200,000 for the plaintiffs, distributed among the decedent's parents and siblings.
Understanding This Case
- Most mild TBIs resolve within weeks to months. Moderate to severe TBI often results in permanent impairment affecting cognition, behavior, and physical function.
- This case went to trial and resulted in a jury verdict. Verdicts can yield higher awards but carry the risk of receiving nothing if the jury rules against the plaintiff.
- This case was resolved in Dallas County, Texas. Local jury tendencies, judge assignments, and regional economic conditions all influence case outcomes in this jurisdiction.
- Resolved in 2015, this case reflects the legal and economic conditions of that period, including medical costs, insurance practices, and jury award trends at the time.
VerdictlyTM Score
This outcome aligns very well with similar cases
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