CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A federal jury this week ruled against Ford Motor Company and awarded a 74-year-old Poca man more than $3 million in damages after his gas pedal got stuck, causing him to crash his truck.
On Nov. 20, 2012, while Howard Nease was driving toward Charleston on U.S. 60 in St. Albans, his accelerator pedal stuck to the floor of his 2001 Ford Ranger pickup truck. He swerved in order to miss several cars, drove over three curbs, managed to drive through a bay at Mousie’s Car Wash, but then smashed into a brick wall on the other side.
“When he hit the wall, his tires were still spinning at full speed,” Nease’s attorney, Tony O’Dell, said Thursday. “His engine blew 20 or 30 seconds later.”
At the scene, Nease told police the pedal had gotten stuck. An officer documented that he could see that the pedal was stuck to the floor of the truck.
Ford argued that Nease was old, and had pressed his foot against the wrong pedal.
“The jury didn’t buy it…