Breaking Legal News — Trucking Accidents

The family of a man who was killed in an auto accident in Wetumpka has been awarded a settlement of $3.5 million by a Chilton County jury. James Sanderson, 56, was killed last January when his van was rear-ended by a logging truck and he was crushed between that truck and another that was stopped in front of him. The accident took place as Sanderson was waiting to take a left at the intersection of Highways 14 and 170.

The logging truck that struck Sanderson was operated by Ken Gorum trucking and driven by Gary Fruge. Experts testified during the trial that Fruge was traveling between fifteen and twenty miles over the speed limit prior to crashing into Sanderson's vehicle. Fruge's truck also had faulty brakes, according to J. Cole Portis, the Sanderson family attorney.

The victim is survived by his wife, Annie M. Sanderson, and their three children, Derek, Josh, and Amy.

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A settlement has been reached in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a woman who was killed when equipment fell off of a tractor trailer and crushed her vehicle. The defendants in the case included the driver of the tractor trailer, Daniel Armstrong, and Pioneer Drilling Co.

In the police investigation following the accident, it was determined that Armstrong was speeding and that his truck's load was not properly secured. In addition, Armstrong admitted to previous driving infractions including driving under the influence. Because federal law stipulates that drivers who hold a commercial drivers license cannot have a DUI conviction on their records, Armstrong was not legally qualified to drive the tractor-trailer.

Armstrong also testified that he and Pioneer officials had changed and tampered with documents to make it appear as though he met all qualifications.

The company agreed to pay $16 million to the family of the woman who was killed in the September 2008 accident.

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A Deforest, Wisconsin woman was awarded $550,000 for soft tissue injuries she sustained in a truck accident in 2004. The settlement is believed to be the largest personal injury settlement in Illinois history to a plaintiff over 60 years old for purely soft tissue injuries.

A Cook County jury awarded the verdict last week.

The woman, 76, and her husband, 80, were traveling on I-90 near the Illinois/Wisconsin border when their vehicle was rear-ended by a semi truck operated by Inland Traffic Consulting Corp. The wife suffered soft tissue injuries to her neck, shoulders, and upper back that required medical care and physical therapy totaling approximately $55,000. The husband also sustained injuries to his rotator cuff that required surgery and necessitated approximately $26,000 in medical expenses.

The couple sued the trucking company for negligence and hired Passen Law Group to represent them in their personal injury lawsuit. In addition to the woman's $550, 000 settlement, the husband was awarded $60,000 for his medical expenses and pain and suffering.

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In a verdict rendered last week, a Polk County jury has awarded $65 million to a 21 year-old woman for injuries she suffered in a car crash in Zolfo Springs. The victim, Ms. Kendra Lymon, was 19 when the accident occurred in 2007.

Ms. Lymon was driving through the intersection of State Road 17 and State Road 64 when she was struck by an 18-wheeler driven by Robert Bohn, a part-time employee of Bynum Transport, Inc. The jury found that the Auburndale-based company and Mr. Bohn were 100% at fault for the accident.

According to eyewitness Ralph King, Ms. Lymon was not speeding and she had a green light as she entered the intersection. Ms. Lymon's lawyers claimed that Mr. Bohn attempted to make the turn at the intersection even though his view was blocked by a tractor-trailer in the opposite turn lane. They also maintain that driver fatigue was to blame in the accident, as Mr. Bohn had just completed a 24-hour shift at his other job before beginning his assignment for Bynum Transportation.

According to the victim's lawyers, the accident left Lymon comatose and hospitalized for months and her injuries still require continuous care.

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The Virginia Supreme Court has upheld an August 2008 verdict that awarded a woman $10.2 million for a brain injury that she sustained in a 2003 car crash.

Lynn Zoll, of Virginia Beach, was riding in a Jeep in October 2003 when it was struck from behind by a tractor-trailer, causing the Jeep to roll over three times. The accident took place on Interstate 295 in Hanover County.

Ms. Zoll was on her way to a brain injury conference when the accident occurred. She had suffered a previous brain injury in 1997 after slipping and falling on a patch of ice.

The defendant, a trucking company based in Omaha, Nebraska, claimed that Ms. Zoll's condition was the result of her earlier accident and not the 2003 crash. Ms. Zoll's attorneys argued that her health deteriorated significantly after the crash.

A jury in the August 2008 trial in Norfolk Circuit Court ruled in favor of the victim and awarded her over $10 million, one of the largest personal injury settlements in Virginia for the year.

The trucking company appealed the results of the case but the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that there were no errors in the original trial.

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In one of the largest personal injury settlements in Kansas state history, a federal jury awarded Terry Frederick $15. 3 million dollars for injuries he sustained in a 2006 late-night tractor-trailer crash.

Frederick, an employee of Yellow Transportation, was in the sleeping berth of his tractor-trailer at the time of the crash. His co-driver, Dennis Bottorff, was operating the rig when it rear-ended a Swift Transportation tractor-trailer driven by Robyn Getchel.

Bottorff was killed instantly and Frederick suffered severe spinal-cord injuries that left him disabled.

Frederick's attorneys, Lynn Johnson and Scott Nutter of Shamberg Johnson & Bergman, argued that Getchel and Swift Transportation were to blame for the accident. An accident reconstruction expert analyzed the angle of the Swift tractor-trailer to the highway and determined thatGetchel had failed to negotiate the turn into the rest stop that she claimed she was making at the time of the crash. Two towing company employees who drove Getchel after the accident testified that she confessed to them that she missed the turn and was backing out on onto the highway when her rig was struck.

In addition, the attorneys showed that Swift Transportation was negligent in their hiring of Getchel, who had failed her commercial licensing exam several times and had a history of drug use. In a drug test conducted after the accident, she tested positive formethamphetamine.

Bottorff's widow has also retained the services of Johnson and Nutter and is suing Swift Transportation in a case that is expected to go to trial sometime next year.

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This comes after multiple trucks hit Oahu's Gulick overpass within the past few weeks. The H-1 overpass is one of the lowest on the island.

Two weeks ago, the driver of an Island Topsoil Service truck failed to clear the 14-foot-3-inch overpass by six inches, sending small chunks of concrete to the freeway below.

The accident caused an inconvenience to morning traffic as officials moved the truck to the side of the road and photographed the damage.

Two days prior, another truck spilled 300 gallons of paint on the Waipahu off-ramp, which took four hours to clean up.

It's the responsibility of heavy-load drivers to make sure their loads are properly measured and secured, said DOT spokesman, Scott Ishikawa, adding that failing to do so could inconvenience and even endanger the public.

Structural damage can also cost big bucks. In 2006, an Army transport crashed into a pedestrian overpass, shutting down all six lanes. It cost $700,000 to fix. The driver of the truck also did not have a permit.

We're not giving out permits for the sake of giving out permits, Ishikawa said. We want to make sure that loads are properly secured and help drivers map out alternative routes.

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The driver, 64-year-old David Wells, slammed his semi-tractor trailer into the Chinatown CTA station just before 5:30 p.m. Twenty-one people — including six children — were injured, and two people died at the scene. Both deaths were ruled accidents.

Wells was reportedly seen acting oddly at the scene. A later search discovered he was carrying another person's prescription at the time.

His odd behavior continued when Wells was taken into custody for two days. Sources said he refused to put clothes on and urinated on the wall during his lockup. He also refused to give a statement to police and declined a urine test.

Police said drugs and alcohol were not a factor in the crash, but they are looking at other factors. Investigators are awaiting results from a more extensive toxicology test to see if the prescription drugs were involved.

Police are also not ruling out mechanical failure of the truck. Initial investigations showed the truck left no skid marks, which could mean a possible malfunction.

Wells was cited for negligent driving. He was driving a truck for Whiteline Express, based in Plymouth, Michigan.

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The proposal would add four center lanes for truck drivers — two going eastbound and two going westbound. A grass barrier would separate the truck lanes from the nearby car lanes. To exit the freeway, trucks would first merge into car traffic via special ramps.

The design’s project manager, Kenny Voss, said the extra lanes are an obvious safety improvement to the busy highway that approximately 10,000 trucks drive on daily.

Nearly 27 percent of accidents involve a truck, and 38 percent of those are fatal, Voss said.

In addition to increasing highway safety, the new design would help improve traffic flow when truck accidents occur, which can block multiple lanes.

So far, reviews are mixed. At the hearing, some attendees agreed that separating trucks and cars would reduce incidents between the two. Others talked about the dangers of having trucks merge from the left side of the road. For highway patrol officers, getting to the center truck lanes may be difficult if the lanes are separated with grass barriers, according to an officer at the meeting.

Transportation officials said they consulted with major truck industries about the design.

The new lanes would cost around $4 billion. So far, there is no government funding for the project.

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Medical experts have suggested to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) that commercial driver's license (CDL) holders who are obese or have a body mass index higher than 30 be routinely tested for obstructive sleep apnea.

Further, those who have sleep apnea must be treated in order to receive their CDL certification.

The recommendations, aimed at improving highway safety, come after studies found truckers have a 20 to 30 percent incidence rate for sleep apnea, higher than for people over age 40.

Sleep apnea causes individuals to wake up frequently during the night, resulting in lost sleep time. For fatigued truck drivers, the effects can be hazardous.

According to Allan Pack of the Center for Sleep and Respiratory Neurobiology at the University of Pennsylvania, drivers with sleep apnea are 2 ½ times more likely to be involved in a severe crash.

One of the major contributors to sleep apnea is obesity.

Some truckers say the testing recommendation is unfair because it singles out truckers from the rest of the drivers on the road.

The FMCSA currently does not have a timetable for considering the new recommendations. It could take up to a year for the regulations to be implemented if approved by all federal agencies.

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The accident occurred between 2:30 and 3 P.M. Dallas time, when for as-yet-undermined reasons the large truck vaulted the center barrier dividing the northbound and southbound lanes of Texas 183 and struck a northbound motorcycle before toppling onto its side, landing atop a red sport utility vehicle.

The 41-year old female driver of the SUV was killed immediately. A young girl who was a passenger in the SUV survived the wreck and was hospitalized at Children's Medical Center of Dallas in critical condition. The motorcyclist and the cement truck operator were also hospitalized; both are currently listed in serious condition at Parkland Memorial Hospital. Names of the injured and deceased have not been released.

Northbound lanes of the highway were shut down for hours while rescue operations were underway. Two heavy-duty wreckers were required to raise the cement truck off the remains of the crushed SUV. Southbound lanes of Highway 183 remained open, though traffic was slowed due to a light pole that was felled in the accident, blocking part of the road.

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Nebraska is set to receive full federal incentive funding for its efforts to keep the number of trucking accidents down.

From 2002 to 2006, the state cut its rate of fatal crashes involving trucks in half. During the same time period, Nebraska also reported 200 less trucking injuries.

The State Patrol will receive approximately $200,000 in an effort to continue this trend and make sure that trucks and their drivers do not pose a danger on the road.

The funding will be used to carry out more effective inspections of large commercial trucks, including surprise roadside inspections by troopers. During vehicle inspections, the State Patrol checks everything and everyone, from brakes to mechanics, to fatigued drivers and those driving with suspended licenses. Funding will also help to pay for any special equipment needed to assist with the inspections.

Nebraska is one of only eight states, including Kansas, that will receive full federal incentive funding. In order to keep the funding, however, the state must show continued improvement in reducing the number of accidents.

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Jurors awarded plaintiff Barry Bowman, a 62-year-old security guard and former Los Angeles police officer, $11 million for his pain and emotional distress caused by the accident, which occurred in October 2004. They also awarded him $4.7 million for his medical expenses and lost income.

Bowman's attorney, Michael Alder, says that Bowman suffered brain damage as a reult of the accident and now requires round-the-clock care.

According to Bowman's lawsuit, the dump truck involved in the accident was operated by Tommie Wyatt Trucking, a company that had been hired by the city to transport asphalt.

During the trial, city attorneys disputed the city's liability in the accident by arguing that the vehicle's driver had finished working for the day and was not on a job site when the incident occurred. They also contended that the truck was traveling at 2 mph when it struck Bowman. Alder, however, claimed that it was moving at 14 mph.

The case went to trial after attorneys for both sides could not reach an agreement, Alder said, adding that city lawyers were unwilling to offer more than $50,000 to settle the case.

The city is currently deciding whether to appeal the verdict.

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John Reutter, 65, and his wife, Mary, 61, were seriously injured in the June 2006 accident on Interstate 35W near Burleson, Texas. Mrs. Reutter suffered a paralyzed left arm and has only partial movement of her right arm. Mr. Reutter experienced lower back pain as a result of the wreck, their attorneys said.

The Reutters sued Oklahoma-based United Petroleum Transports Inc. and this week announced the parties had reached an out-of-court settlement to end the case, just as it was set to go to trial. The settlement was among the largest ever reached in Johnson County courts, attorneys said.

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San Luis Obispo County Superior Court Judge Dodie A. Harman, in handing down the sentence reached through a plea agreement between attorneys, noted that the driver of the truck, Shawn Brandon Evans, 25, of Atascadero, did not intend to hurt anyone. The judge said the incident was “absolutely the most tragic for the court to handle.”

Jerry Carter, 27, was killed and three others riding on the ATV with him were hurt on July 1, 2006. Evans was driving his off-road truck over a sandy dune ledge when it landed on top of the ATV being ridden by Carter and others. Evans pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence, a misdemeanor.

About 30 members of Carter’s family crammed into Harman’s courtroom on November 19 and urged the judge to impose a longer jail sentence than was agreed to in the plea bargain. In addition to spending 30 days in jail, Evans must also spend two years on probation and complete 200 hours of community service.

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Jurors had ordered the food giant to pay the damages to the family of a 22-year-old Marine who died in the accident, which occurred near Crestline, Ohio. Tyson appealed the amount of the jury’s award and also asked for a new trial.

A federal court judge on Oct. 31 denied the food giant’s motions and tacked on interest that had accrued on the damages but had not been paid to the victim’s family during Tyson’s appeal period.

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Altariq Suber, 30, is accused of negligently driving his tractor trailer in poor condition, causing a crash on State Route 78 that claimed the life of a Pennsylvania man. Prosecutors allege Suber drove his truck knowing that several of the vehicle’s tires were in poor condition.

Suber’s vehicle skidded across the highway’s center median into oncoming traffic and struck several vehicles, including a car driven by Michael Damian, 42, of Bangor, Pennsylvania, who was killed, according to police.

Suber, who faces up to 10 years in state prison if convicted, has rejected several pre-trial plea bargain offers from prosecutors. His attorney has argued that the tires on the truck were defective but that Suber was unaware of the problem.

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The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Philip Cote Jr., who was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident on July 7, 2005. According to the suit, Cote was riding his motorcycle east on Sherman Avenue when a UPS truck heading in the opposite direction turned left in front of him. Cote collided with the rear passenger side of the vehicle; the impact tore Cote's right arm off approximately six inches from the shoulder.

Jurors found that the truck's driver, Terri Mae Murphy, was responsible for the accident.

The multimillion dollar verdict -- the largest in Warren County history -- includes $2.7 million for Cote's future lost earnings.

The jury awarded Cote's wife, Roxanne, $10,000 for the loss of her husband's services.

Since the accident, Cote has undergone four surgeries to help him gain mobility in his right shoulder. According to one of his attorneys, he is at risk for depression due to his injuries.

Cote was originally ticketed by Glens Falls police for traveling at an imprudent speed and failing to pay attention to the road prior to the accident. The tickets, however, were dropped when the court determined there was no evidence to support them, Cote's attorney said.

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The unidentified driver of the semi-trailer lost control of his vehicle near the intersection with Kanan Dume Road and failed to use the emergency braking lane in the area to stop the truck, authorities said. The truck collided with a Mercedes-Benz that was turning onto the highway, driving the smaller vehicle into an embankment on the side of the highway.

The driver of a third vehicle involved in the wreck, a Los Angeles County firefighter heading home after battling the wildfires in the Malibu area, suffered a minor ankle injury, officials said.

The area has been ravaged by wildfires and it was feared that a small fire sparked by the accident could cause more fires, but a passing motorist used a fire extinguisher in his car to quickly put out the flames.

Trucks weighing over 8,000 pounds are not allowed on the section of the coast highway, but officials were not sure if the truck, owned by a Glendale trucking company, had exceeded that weight limit.

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Although the full value of the settlement could not be disclosed due to a confidentiality agreement, an attorney for the plaintiffs said the amount exceeds the $3 million in insurance protection reported by the truck driver's employer, KV Express Inc.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court against driver Miroslaw Jozwiak and KV Express by relatives of seven workers killed in the Sept. 20, 2004, accident. Family members of five others killed in the crash settled their lawsuit against the defendants earlier this year.

The accident occurred when Jozwiak, driving an 18-wheel tractor-trailer, crossed over a median on U.S. Highway 75 and collided with oncoming vehicles. Jozwiak pleaded guilty in March 2006 to 10 counts of manslaughter and two charges of aggravated assault. He is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence.

The multimillion dollar settlement was announced Oct. 15, the day jury selection in the case was scheduled to begin.

Earlier this year, the company that owned the trailer Jozwiak was towing reached a settlement with the plaintiffs.

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