DALLAS - A Dallas County jury has awarded a $6 million verdict to two North Texas men who suffered severe injuries when a tractor-trailer slammed into several vehicles that had slowed on the interstate in order to navigate around a minor car accident.
The plaintiffs were carpooling to work just before sunrise on June 13, 2014, when they came upon an accident on Interstate 35 north of Waxahachie, Texas. As traffic began to slow and come to a stop, an 18-wheeler barreled into seven cars, violently slamming the plaintiffs’ pickup into a commercial delivery truck. The plaintiffs endured multiple surgeries and lengthy hospital stays as a result of the accident.
“This was a horrific accident and my clients were lucky to survive, but it was an accident that should never have happened,” said Steve Laird, a nationally recognized truck accident attorney who represented the men.
During the trial, the jury heard testimony that the driver of the tractor-trailer, an employee of the Dallas-based paper distributor Olmsted-Kirk Paper Company, did not slow as he approached the congested area, and was traveling at or near highway speeds when his truck slammed into the other cars.
The jury, which reached its verdict on March 10, found Olmsted-Kirk liable for its driver’s negligence, awarding a total of $6 million to the plaintiffs for their injuries, pain and mental anguish.
The case is Daniel Price et al. v. Olmsted-Kirk Paper Company et al., No. CC-14-04676-D, in Dallas County Court at Law.
