TRUCK - MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT

 

Jurisdiction:      Middlesex Superior Court, Cambridge, MA
    
     The plaintiffs in this case advanced a theory that our client, a trucking company, had deficient standards in place with regard to the retrieval of disabled tractor-trailers.    Our client’s tractor-trailer was disabled on the Massachusetts turnpike at approximately 2:30 in the afternoon.  A transmission failure occurred as the driver was in the process of exiting a rest-stop.  He pulled to the right as far as he could.  The driver, did have a radio or a cell phone in the vehicle.  He had to leave the vehicle on the side of the road initially and went back to the rest stop to call his company for towing assistance.  The driver pulled the vehicle over to the right in the vicinity of the on-ramp as far as he could, but the left rear tires of the tandems on the tractor-trailer were protruding over the fog line by approximately six inches.
     Despite several calls made by the driver over the next seven hours, the tow truck that had been dispatched and did not appear.  As it turns out, the company had a process in place in which it would dispatch heavy-duty tow trucks from a location in Massachusetts.  However, the location in Massachusetts did not have any trucks available at the time and therefore the company dispatched a local to its office in Rhode Island.  As a result of that dispatch which took place within an hour or two of the initial breakdown, the tow truck was unable to reach its destination because it too suffered a mechanical breakdown.  The company then dispatched a second tow truck from another Rhode Island service, which according to testimony became lost in the attempt to locate the tractor-trailer.
     Approximately six and a half to seven hours after the initial breakdown, a tow truck reached the tractor-trailer and was in the process of completing its hookup.  The driver of the tractor-trailer and the tow truck was walking to the tow truck in order to get inside to pull away, when a vehicle that had come from the rest-stop collided with the rear of the tractor-trailer. 
     There were numerous accident reconstructions done as a result of the accident and also an autopsy revealed a positive blood alcohol found on the decedent driver.  It was revealed that the driver when exiting had a clear lane but for six inches to the right where the rear of the tandems were protruding over the fog line.  For unexplained reasons, the driver lined up directly behind the tractor-trailer, perhaps believing the tractor-trailer was not applying the brakes at the time, and struck the rear of the tractor-trailer applying the brakes at approximately 60 mph.  He was instantly killed. 
      After deliberations, the jury found the company negligent in its failure to have an appropriate procedure in place that would permit the retrieval of a mechanically broken down vehicle; however, the jury found no causation with regard to the happening of the accident itself, and actually determined that the plaintiff’s own conduct was the cause of the accident resulting in a defense verdict. We stressed the causation defense in the closing.
     The plaintiff was a self-employed convenience store owner/operator and was approximately 52 years old.  He had a demonstrated income well into the six figures on an annual basis and the plaintiff’s demand was at all times in excess of $2,000,000.00.