$18 Million Settlement in Four-Fatality Missouri Truck Wreck

As a Georgia trial attorney handling trucking accident cases, I see too many instances of truck driver fatigue and drug usage leading to tragedy.  The pattern is exemplified in a Missouri case.  It has resulted in an $18 million settlement for the deaths of four family members (ages 55, 57, 81 and 94) on the way to a 50th wedding anniversary celebration. 

The truck driver had less than the required amount of rest the night before, according to subpoenaed cell phone records, and  was on eight prescribed medications that warned of possible drowsiness.   Witnesses said he was falling asleep at the wheel before he sped past warning signs and a flagman, slammed into a long line of cars, crossed the median and jackknifed on the opposite side of the highway.

According to a report by Joe Meyer of the Columbia Tribune, a family member said, “The money wasn’t something that we were after.  It was just a way to give a message in this part of town that the truckers should not be out there like that.”

The Shigley Law Firm  represents plaintiffs in wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases statewide in Georgia.  Recently elected Secretary of the State Bar of Georgia, Ken Shigley was designated as a “SuperLawyer” in Atlanta Magazine and one of the “Legal Elite” in Georgia Trend Magazine. He is a Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, and former chair of the Chair of the Southeastern Motor Carrier Liability Institute and Georgia Insurance Law Institute. He focuses on cases arising from truck wrecks and accidents (tractor trailers truck wrecks, bus wrecks, semi truck wrecks,18 wheeler truck wrecks, big rig truck wrecks, log truck wrecks, dump truck wrecks.