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Truck company settles with family of Stamford woman for $18.75M

On Behalf of | Sep 11, 2019 | Truck Accidents

After a Stamford, Connecticut woman was fatally struck by a tractor trailer at an Interstate 95 exit ramp, her friends and family set up an online fundraising campaign. The amount that they raised, however, was not nearly enough to compensate her young son for the permanent loss of his mother who worked at a hair salon to support the household.

Patch Media reported that a jury found the trucking company and its subsidiary were responsible for the accident, and the companies agreed to settle the wrongful death lawsuit for $18.75M, one of the largest settlements in the Constitution State’s history. It took the jurors 24 hours to come to the conclusion that both companies were liable for the woman’s unfortunate fate. The cause of the fatality was the subsidiary’s hired driver who ran a red light and slammed into the woman’s car as she was coming off the exit. A 32-year-old friend of the victim was also in her car during the collision and suffered serious injuries.

Even though law enforcement cleared the driver of operating the truck under the influence of drugs or alcohol, the fatal accident occurred while he was employed on behalf of the subsidiary to make a shipment to its customer. Under these circumstances, the employer is liable for the compensation covering the harm, injuries and damages caused by an employee. The 52-year-old tractor trailer driver may also face a criminal conviction over the woman’s death, a charge which the trucking company will not be liable for.

The Connecticut Mirror reported that there were at least 494,763 crashes on the Constitution State’s roads between 2015 and halfway through 2019. Staying focused on the road, eliminating mobile phone distractions and following the posted speed limits may help in lowering the number of collisions.

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