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Illinois - A US jury has awarded nearly $43.8m to the family of a 74-year-old man who died when the gas tank in his Ford-produced Lincoln Town Car caught on fire after the car was struck from behind by another vehicle.
The July 2003 accident on Interstate 270 near Granite City also severely burned John Jablonski's wife, Dora, 72.
The family of the Missouri couple had sued Ford Motor Co., the manufacturer of the couple's 1993 Lincoln Town Car, alleging the location of the car's fuel tank behind the rear axle caused the fire.
The jury on Tuesday awarded the family $15m in punitive damages, $23.1m for Dora Jablonski's claim and $5.67m for John Jablonski's estate.
The family's attorney, Brad Lakin, told jurors during closing arguments that Ford should have warned car owners or retrofitted the vehicles with safety devices.
But Jim Feeney, an attorney for the Dearborn, Michigan automaker, argued that no similar accidents have occurred involving the same Town Car model as the one driven by John Jablonski.
Another Ford vehicle, the Crown Victoria police car, also has been at the center of legal battles around the United States.
Since 2002, municipalities have filed lawsuits alleging that the vehicles explode too easily when their fuel tanks ignited after rear collisions.
Ford has maintained that the vehicles are safe.