A 55 year old female died when her disabled vehicle that partially occupied a lane of traffic was struck by an eighteen wheel truck on a highway located in Jackson County. We brought suit on behalf of her three emancipated children.
Dempsey Kingsland Osteen action:
We obtained a complete copy of the extensive police file concerning the investigation of the collision. We also investigated the trucking company and the truck driver. We obtained a download from the “black box” of the eighteen wheel truck that revealed that the truck was speeding and that the truck driver had not applied the brakes of the truck until the collision happened. We also obtained proof that the truck driver had a previous felony conviction arising out of the use of eighteen wheel trucks to smuggle cocaine across the border from Mexico. We located a witness to the crash by obtaining an audio recording of 911 telephone calls that were made in connection with the collision. This witness, together with another witness that who was identified in the police report, was able to confirm that the truck driver had a clear view of the disabled vehicle from approximately a quarter of a mile away but failed to take any action to make a lane change to avoid the collision. We produced an animation based on the witness accounts and other evidence that depicted how the collision occurred. This animation highlighted the truck driver’s inattention that led to the crash.
The case settled after mediation for the trucking company’s policy limits of $5,000,000.