This happened just west of Rolla. Had the trailer been properly maintained, this might well have been prevented. The trucking companies should enforce the maintenance regulations on their trucks. The Anderson car, a 1979 Chevrolet Malibu, exploded in flames when struck from behind. One of the children had a hand burned off and her ears burned down to the bone.
Corporate defenders complain that large damage awards just encourage more litigation.
Well, you can't put a company in jail, or send it to the electric chair. About all that's left are punitive damages, usually assessed to get a recalcitrant company's attention. The purpose of the corporate system has bee perverted from originally serving the broader public interest to now exploiting the public for narrow private gains. We'll continue to have exploding automobiles, unsafe workplaces, sweatshops, toxic pollution and waste until corporations are made to put the public interest over private profit.