A wrongful death lawsuit has been set concerning a 2012 accident that resulted in the death of an Amherst County garage owner. The garage owner was said to have been clearing a roadway where a truck hauling gravel had overturned. He was apparently struck and killed by a tractor-trailer that was driving past this vicinity.
The garage owner’s widow filed the lawsuit against the driver, the driver’s employer and the Commonwealth of Virginia. Workers from the Virginia Department of Transportation have also been named as defendants. These workers apparently were in charge of traffic control after the gravel truck had overturned. These workers also apparently allowed the tractor-trailer to proceed before it struck the garage owner.
It is alleged that the driver of the tractor-trailer had been on duty for more than 14 hours without taking a required off-duty break. The truck was also more than 65 feet in length and was said to have been prohibited from entering onto the Virginia 130 roadway. It is claimed that the Department of Transportation workers should not have allowed a vehicle of this size to proceed.
There will likely be a number of legal complexities concerning this wrongful death matter. The attorney for the truck driver has already asked that the location of the trial be moved due to various concerns including the difficulty of having a fair and impartial trial in Amherst County. The judge, however, ruled that Amherst was the appropriate location because the accident had occurred in the vicinity and that a fair trial could be heard in the jurisdiction.
As these cases can be emotionally trying it is important that attorneys consult with family members of the deceased and make certain any outcome meets the clients’ particular needs.
Source: The News & Advance, “Trial date set in Amherst County wrongful death suit,” Justin Faulconer, April 9, 2014