Trucking Cases

Fridlund v. Lakeway Trucking, et al.

Deidra Marsh, age 19, was a front seat passenger in a vehicle being driven by her boyfriend. He lost control of his vehicle and collided with another vehicle. The impact caused both vehicles to go out of control, with the vehicle driven by Ms. Marsh’s boyfriend traveling across the travel lanes toward the concrete median. At that time, the truck driver who was driving a fully loaded tractor trailer on behalf of his employer, Lakeway Trucking, Inc. observed the impact of the two vehicles in front of him, however, was unable to avoid a collision with the vehicle driven by Ms. Marsh’s boyfriend. Deidra Marsh suffered fatal injuries as a result of the collision.

During discovery, we obtained admissions from Lakeway representatives that the driver’s hiring and training were in violation of their company policies. Furthermore, the driver admitted that he was exceeding the speed limit at the time of the accident, and that he had not checked the adjustment levels of his brakes. An inspection of the tractor trailer by the Cobb County Police Department revealed that four of the six tractor brakes were out of adjustment.

The case settled for $1,500,000.00 following mediation.

Lawler v. Cresco Lines and Georgia Pipe

John Lawler was returning home after work when he was killed after an overhead sign fell on to Mr. Lawler’s vehicle. An out-of-control truck had run into the freeway median strip, hitting the footing or base of the overhead sign, thus causing the sign to fall on the victim’s car. Mr. Jones’ firm completed a thorough investigation, proving that incorrect loading of PVC pipe on the trailer while at the pipe company caused the load to shift, thus explaining why the truck lost control. During the trial, the driver and trucking company agreed to pay the $1 million limit as specified by their insurance company. The jury also found the pipe loading company liable and awarded Mr. Lawler’s parents over $1.7 million. The verdict was affirmed on appeal.

Fallis v. Thomas Concrete of Georgia, et al.

James Arnold stopped his 18 wheeled tanker truck in an active travel lane of the on-ramp. Mr. Fallis, while attempting to enter I-75, ran into the rear of the parked tanker causing his fatal injuries. Mr. Arnold ignored 61 metal “No Parking” signs which were posted throughout the on-ramp. During investigation, Mr. Arnold stated that the reason he stopped was due to a flickering of his left front headlight. He further stated that before checking the flickering condition, he relieved himself on the side of the road. When interviewed by the investigating officers, Mr. Arnold initially told the same story as contained within his written statement. When further questioned regarding the incident and the physical evidence, Mr. Arnold finally admitted that he lied about the flickering headlight and had stopped solely to relieve himself and that he was doing so at the time the impact occurred. Defendant Thomas Concrete conducted an internal investigation and determined that the accident was preventable.

The case settled for $1,000,000.00 following mediation.

Batten v. Marable-Pirkle, Inc.

Alfred Thomas was driving a truck for his employer, Marable-Pirkle, when he crossed the center line on a highway and struck and killed Lisa Batten, who was driving in the other direction. We represented Ken Batten, Lisa’s husband, and secured a settlement of $2 million on his behalf.

Perkerson v. Brown Packing Co., Inc. and UPS Truck Leasing, Inc.

Daisy Elzey had been driving her car on the highway. Jeffrey Goode, a tractor-trailer driver for the defendants, was tailing and harassing her. She did her best to get out of the way of Mr. Goode, but he continued to harass her and follow her closer than he should have. Ms. Elzey changed lanes several times, lost control of her vehicle, crossed the median, and collided with a different tractor-trailer. At no point did Mr. Goode’s truck make contact with Ms. Elzey’s car. Ms. Elzey was killed in the accident. She was 75 years old and had no living dependents. Jones’ firm defeated multiple motions for summary judgement put forth by the defendants. The defendants settled the case, four days before the trial was to start, for $1 million.

McDuffie v. Georgia-Pacific Corporation

Kenneth McDuffie was driving his car on a two-lane highway. Marvin Ruffin, driver of a tractor-trailer flatbed, was trying to turn around at the same time on the same highway. Due to insufficient space in which to turn the tractor-trailer around in a timely manner, the truck blocked the entire roadway for almost 60 seconds. Mr. McDuffie had come around a curve on the highway but, due to glare from the sun as well as the height of the flatbed, could not see the trailer that blocked the roadway. Mr. McDuffie ran into the flatbed trailer and suffered severe head trauma. Mr. Jones proved that Mr. Ruffin’s negligence caused the wreck. Georgia-Pacific settled the matter and paid the McDuffies $330,000.