A former Tennessee state legislator and the current chief of staff at the Comptroller General Office filed a lawsuit against a trucking company in Illinois on Dec. 6. In his Greenville, Tennessee, U.S. District Court filing, he alleges that one of its truckers, who struck him on Nov. 2, caused him to suffer debilitating injuries.
He’s asking for either a judge or jury to award him at least $1.5 million in damages associated with his medical costs as well as pain and suffering.
The lawsuit lists the Orlando-based trucker and his Illinois-based employer as the defendants in the case. In the man’s filing, he and his attorneys chronicle how, on the day he was struck along Interstate 81, the state employee wasn’t the only one hit that day. Instead, he notes that at least four other motorists or their passengers were also involved in chain-reaction crashes related to his own.
All of those individuals were transported to the hospital complaining of varying injuries. Ultimately, the crashes closed down the portion of I-81 nearest the 58 mile marker for well over three hours.
In the case of the plaintiff’, he’d been returning home to Kingsport from Knoxville when he was involved in the crash. He saw what appeared to be an SUV that has crashed into a guardrail and, like the other motorists, slowed down as he passed it. It’s as his car came to a halt that he noted that a tractor-trailer fast approaching behind him.
Although the trucker apparently was seen swerving to the left in an attempt to avoid crashing into the man, he wasn’t able to do so in time and crashed into the rear of his vehicle. The impact of the crash pushed the state employee’s vehicle into the rear of a U-Haul truck, a situation that caused his car to roll over.
The tractor-trailer reportedly didn’t stop there. He rolled over with his truck ending up on top of a Hyundai that he finally came to rest across the interstate’s lanes.
Citations issued to the trucker included ones for his failure to respond to traffic signals, maintain proper distance between himself and others, failing to maintain control over his truck and failure to exercise due care.
If you’ve seriously injured in a crash with a tractor-trailer, then a Kingsport, Tennessee, attorney may advise you of the benefits of filing an injury lawsuit in your case.
Source: Times News, “Mumpower seeks $1.5M in damages over I-81 crash in Kingsport,” Matthew Lane, Dec. 06, 2017