After NFL quarterback Dwayne Haskins was struck and killed by a 1994 Kenworth T800 at night on a Florida highway in April 2022, lawyers filed massive lawsuits against 15 defendants. Neither the truck driver nor the fleet company were charged criminally. However, a recent settlement with the Haskins estate demonstrates that even the slightest safety defect can prove costly.
The primary reason truck driver Pedro Diaz and broker Sorrell Enterprises were not charged in the fatality is because Haskins was reportedly impaired. His rental vehicle had apparently run out of gas on Interstate 595 near the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport as dawn approached. A woman he was traveling with went to get gasoline. Haskins, according to reports, had been drugged and his blood alcohol level tested at .24, three times higher than the Florida legal limit. In the woman’s absence, the professional football star got out of the vehicle and was trying to wave motorists down. He was said to be standing in the center lane when he was struck and killed.
Attorneys for the Haskins family made the case that other motorists had seen him and called 911. Diaz did not see the QB, who was also wearing black clothing before dawn. The trucker was also allegedly operating above the posted speed limit, but not excessively. With no criminal charges, Haskins’ impairment and his erratic highway behavior, logic might dictate the trucker and company would not be held liable. But the trend of truck accident mega-settlements may have backed the parties into a corner.
So-called “nuclear verdicts” handed plaintiffs average awards of more than $31 million from June 2020 through April 2023, according to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform study. And the median non-nuclear award hovered around $315,000. Just three years ago, truck-related civil lawsuit payouts stood just above $3 million. Those are motivating reasons why freight transportation outfits settle even if they are not necessarily at fault.
But in the tragic case of Haskins losing his life on a Florida highway, inspectors discovered the truck had braking system issues. Had the commercial motor vehicle been inspected before the fateful incident, it would likely have been flagged and rendered out of service. Regardless of whether the brakes played a role in the fatality, a jury could see that issue as a reason to award punitive damages.
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