Personal Injury Law

$6.5 Million Awarded in Deadly Tractor Trailer, Pick-Up Truck Crash

By Louthian Law Firm

Two years after a 32-year-old woman was killed when a tractor trailer rear-ended the pick-up truck in which she was riding, her family has been awarded a $6.5 million award in their wrongful death lawsuit, reports the Courier-News.

On Halloween, 2008, the East Dubuque, Illinois woman, her husband, and their 3-year-old son were on the way to Goebbert?s Pumpkin Patch when a tractor-trailer rear-ended their pick-up truck, killing the wife instantly. Her husband suffered a broken spine, facial fractures, and respiratory failure and their son suffered two broken legs, head injuries and lacerations.

The lawsuit alleged the driver of the tractor-trailer was operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs, driving over the speed limit and failing to keep a proper lookout. It was learned the owners of the tractor-trailer, Geils Farms, violated the law by not randomly conducting drug tests of their drivers, performing background checks or obtaining a copy of each driver?s driving record. The farm was also found in violation of federal regulations by operating an overloaded semi.

The truck?s left rear turn signal was inoperable, five of the ten brakes were out of adjustment, and some of the trucks brake pads had oil and grease on them, making the vehicle inadequate for braking and safe stopping.

The settlement included $4.7 million for the wrongful death of the mother, $1.5 million for her husband?s injuries, and $300,000 for her son.

Big rigs, 18-wheelers, tractor-trailers or other large trucks can be dangerous in the wrong hands. When trucks collide with smaller vehicles, they bring all that extra weight to bear on the vehicles ? and on the people in them. If you have been injured or have had a loved one killed as a result of an accident with a tractor-trailer, call the South Carolina truck accident lawyers at Louthian Law Firm by phone at 1-866-410-5656 or online.

Tractor ? Trailer Wrongful Death

Full post as published by South Carolina Lawyer Blog on December 14, 2010 (boomark / email).