Truck Accident Lawyer Blog

This tragic case involved the death of a three-year old girl, caused by a tractor-trailer crossing the center line and striking the van in which the little girl was riding. Injuries to children are devastating, and highlight the importance of what injury lawyers do for the public. Her mother was driving the van, as they returned home from vacation. Apparently, the truck driver had an epileptic seizure at the wheel, causing him to lose control of the vehicle.

The little girl was trapped in her car seat and suffered massive head injuries. Her parents and two brothers could only look on with horror as four and a half hours elapsed before rescuers extracted her from the vehicle and took her to a hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead. Her parents sought compensation for the loss of her life, the loss of her companionship to her parents, and for the severe emotional damages they suffered.

At trial, the girl’s family presented an EMS report showing that the driver had suffered a classic grand mal seizure (loss of consciousness, shaking all over, eyes rolled up, biting his tongue) two weeks before taking his commercial truck driver’s license exam. What probably assured the jury that the truck driver totally and callously disregarded the safety of others was when they viewed videotapes of him driving his car on a suspended license — during the trial, with his three year old daughter in the car! The jury returned a verdict for the girl’s family of $4,500,000: $1,000,000 to each parent for emotional damages, $700,000 for their loss of her companionship, and $1,800,000 for her lost life. After a new trial was ordered on the loss of companionship portion, the defendant settled for a confidential amount between $3,800,000 and $4,500,000.