A Pennsylvania man has received a settlement of $3.8 million dollars from two trucking companies after a crash that caused traumatic brain injury and numerous broken bones including “all of the bones in his head.”
The man, Kyle Kelly, was 23 years old at the time of the crash. He was driving home from work when driver Isabel Lopez’s truck crossed over the median on I-380 and struck Kelly’s SUV in a head-on collision. Kelly’s vehicle was then struck a second time by a different truck driven by John Charles Bonyea.
The lawsuit was brought by Kelly against both Lopez’s employer, Proud-2-Haul Inc, and Bonyea’s employer, Leonard’s Transportation. It alleged that the drivers and carriers were negligent for failing to safely drive the truck, failing to keep accurate driver logs, violating federal motor carrier safety regulations and failing to maintain the truck.
Though the case was supposed to be argued in court later this month, the defendants offered the settlement pre-trail and Kelly accepted. It is not known which company will be responsible for how much of the total cost.
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Source: mcall
Robert Gift says
Why did Isabel Lopez cross over the median?
Fell asleep at the wheel?
Sir Byrd says
“… to get to the other side.”
Gordon A says
We may never know the whole story. How ever if both had been compliant that suit would never see the light of day. As bad luck goes, both trucks seem to have been not compliant at the time of the accident. This being based on available information. another good reason to try to be a safe and legal as you can. Accidents happen , We need to try to not let it happen to us.
michael says
What’s with second driver in truck number 2? There’s not one “safe truck” on the road if convenient to deem it so !! Complete insurance company BS! Would be curious how many accidents are indeed due “unsafe equipment failure” VS “operator error” which is probably the much more common.
Apparently if “at wrong place wrong time” either way your screwed sure glad many of us ‘healthy drivers” just don’t engage at all in “trucking” any more!!!
sudon't says
That’s how it works. I was told this from day one: You get in an accident where someone is injured or killed, doesn’t matter who’s fault it really is, if they can find a violation, it’s all on you.
Richard says
That hits the nail right on the head.It’s almost as if you can be driving down a two lane road in the snow on your own side of it,somebody goes to pass a car like an idiot and you hit them flush,The sad part about this is they could blame it all on you for something as simple as not having a stem cap on your tires,OR simply because you left 4 minutes early on your logs six months ago because you rounded like you were suppose to on the 15 minute fuel stop and regardless of how long you have sat in between loads they will still argue that you weren’t suppose to be there.
Ray says
I wonder how well Kyle Kelly has recovered. I would never have settled.
Brian says
When you sign a contingency agreement with an attorney, you don’t get to decide if you settle or not. The attorney calls the shots.
RandomLawyer says
Wrong. The decision whether to settle or not is *always* the client’s decision to make. The attorney can counsel and advise the client, but the client alone has the sole authority to determine whether to accept a settlement. The attorney is never permitted to accept a settlement without the client’s approval.
Chuck says
Just anther BS lawsuit. Sounds like truck 2 was minding his own business until someone caused him to be involved. If he had been driving a car, he/they wouldn’t have been sued.
Gordan , the government or lawyers can and will find something that is “non-compliant” in a situation like this. Compliancy is a myth. There are way too many rules and too much red tape for any company to be perfect. Welcome to America, home of GREED.
Kelly Wyatt says
Truck 2 was minding his own business as for driving however, IF he would have minded his log book properly he wouldn’t have been involved in this suit. It is the law that a log book should be current as for your change of duty status and in possession of the driver/truck at all times while on duty. This is One Of The Reasons Why….
Douglas Kirk says
I (big truck) was hit nearly head-on last week by a gal who evidently wasn’t a smart or capable driver (car). Fortunately we both not only survived but with minor injuries-so far. So now I missed a week and a half of work and my boss is out a truck he just bought in August. Moral to the story is this- it can indeed happen to you. Be ready and aware at all times. Be safe out there boys and girls.