$462 Million Verdict Against Wabash National in Fatal Underride Crash (Reduced Post-Trial to $119.5 Million)

On the afternoon of May 19, 2019, a Volkswagen sedan carrying two men in their twenties struck the rear of a Wabash National trailer on a St. Louis-area highway. The car slid underneath the trailer in what crash investigators call an underride collision. Taron Tailor, 30, and Nicholas Perkins, 23, both died at the scene. Both men left behind young children.

Their families sued Wabash National Corporation, the Indiana-based manufacturer of the trailer. The central claim was that Wabash had relied on a two-post rear impact guard design for nearly three decades, despite growing evidence that four-post configurations offered meaningfully better protection in underride scenarios. Plaintiffs argued that Wabash ignored research and industry warnings dating back decades and never subjected its guards to real-world crash testing adequate to validate the design.

Brian Winebright of Cantor Injury Law joined John Simon and Johnny Simon of Simon Law Firm and Lisa Tsacoumangos of Brown and Crouppen as co-counsel for the families. Over a two-week trial in City of St. Louis Circuit Court before Judge Christopher McGraugh, the plaintiffs presented expert testimony on crash reconstruction and trailer guard performance. The defense contested impact speed and raised questions about driver condition, but Judge McGraugh excluded evidence about intoxication and seatbelt non-use from the jury's consideration.

The jury deliberated for roughly three hours before returning a verdict of $462 million on September 5, 2024 -- $12 million in compensatory damages (split between both families) and $450 million in punitive damages. The jury assigned 65 percent of fault to Wabash National.

Judge McGraugh denied Wabash's motion for a new trial but reduced the punitive award. The final judgment came to approximately $119.5 million: $108 million in punitive damages and $11.5 million in compensatory damages. Winebright said after the verdict that he hoped the jury's decision would 'send a clear message to the trucking and trailer industry' about the need for safer rear impact guards.