Widower Awarded $5 Million for Trucking Accident
Married for 33 years, a couple, both 67-years-old, were looking forward to spending their retirement in the Palm Coast area of Florida between Daytona and Jacksonville. But that was not to be. On November 13, 2009, a Circuit Court jury in Flagler County granted the husband $5.1 million in the wrongful death of his wife. Back in 2006, she was killed instantly in a wreck between her Honda minivan and a fully loaded tractor-trailer. Her husband suffered a pelvic fracture.
The lawyer for the husband presented evidence that the tired trucker ran a stop sign at a well-known, isolated intersection in the southwest part of the county known as Cody’s Corner. The driver of Palatka was driving for McMaster Sod LLC of Bunnell, Florida.
An attorney argued that the county shared part of the fault for the accident because there was poor signage at the intersection, and there were worn rumble strips just before the stop sign. But the jury didn’t agree, placing 60 percent of the blame on the trucker, and 40 percent on McMaster and no blame on the county.
Some of the most compelling evidence included a Valentine’s card from the first year of the the couple’s marriage that said, “Our happiness is our wealth.”
Our hearts go out to the widower for his loss. No amount of money will replace his wife, whom he obviously adored.
Unfortunately, we are hearing more often about tired truck drivers. With the cost of fuel going up, and jobs scarce, many drivers are pushing beyond the legal limits on time behind the wheel and hiding those hours by keeping a second set of books so they are not fined. Then there are the added distractions on the road today. To stay in touch with their dispatchers and family, the cab of a truck is often filled with electronics so the driver doesn’t have to stop.
The Truck Safety Coalition reports that 5,000 people are killed every year in accidents with big trucks and over 100,000 are injured. That’s the equivalent of losing 100 people every week of every month of the year to tractor-trailer accidents.
Florida was the third most dangerous state for truck crashes in 2007, with 302 fatalities. Between 1994 and 2007 there were 4,759 fatalities following crashes with large trucks in Florida.
The Florida Legislature tries to impose increased penalties for operating a commercial vehicle that is overloaded, or on drivers that drive long hours or falsify records, but in 2009, as in other years, the legislation died in committee.
When the Legislature convenes in Florida in March, remember the life of this woman and the others who have lost their lives on Florida roads and encourage your representative to support the bill. Enough is enough.
Source article: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/crime/2009-11-13/story/flagler_widower_wins_51_million_verdict_in_deadly_truck_wreck
