A Dallas jury awarded $4.1 mllion in damages to a 41-year-old Mississippi woman who was seriously injured when her pick-up truck rolled over after it was rear-ended by an 18-wheel tractor-trailer driver
The jury in Judge Emily Tobolowsky's court ruled April 24 that the truck driver, who had two previous rear-end collisions, was grossly negligent. The jury found that his employer, Greenwood Motor Lines, Inc., doing business as R&L Carriers, was also grossly negligent in failing to properly supervise and train the driver.
The collision near Weatherford, Texas on I-20 on the evening of Dec. 5, 2011 seriously injured Bobbie Bush and killed her two pet dogs, which were ejected from her vehicle. The truck driver was estimated to have been traveling at least 65 mph at the time of the collision.
Bush is represented by Ryan Zehl and Kevin Haynes, of Houston-based Fitts Zehl LLP; Carmen S. Mitchell of Mitchell, Goff & Mitchell, L.L.P., of Dallas; and Ron C. McCallum, of Ted B. Lyon & Associates, P.C., of Mesquite, Texas.
Zehl, who acted as lead trial counsel on the case, said, "The verdict will enable Bobbie to try to get her life back on track and receive the medical care that she will need for the foreseeable future. The verdict shows that the people of Dallas County will hold even the largest trucking companies responsible when they allow unqualified and reckless drivers behind the wheels of deadly vehicles."
The jury award included $1.2 million for Ms. Bush's past and future medical expenses, $1 million for past and future physical impairment, and $50,000 in punitive damages against the trucking company.
The case is Bobbie Bush v. R&L Carriers, Inc., et al, DC-11-16041 in the 298th District Court of Dallas County, Texas.
