An Essex County jury on Tuesday awarded $7.5 million, including $5.5 million in punitive damages, in a suit over a highway rollover caused by a tire blowout, Ceasar v. Flemington Car and Truck Country.

The accident occurred in Virginia on April 12, 2009, as Carla Ceasar, then 45, was driving from New Jersey to Florida with her mother, Erna Allen, 73, and father, Ray Allen, 82. The right rear tire of their 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer SUV blew out at 65 miles per hour.