I’m going to guess there wasn’t an umbrella in place (or certainly not one of any size), since there doesn’t seem to be an umbrella carrier named in the 10-page lawsuit, and their primary policy with ACE has a $2,000,000 limit on it. You’d think if they were going to put a 76 year old behind the wheel of an “80,000 sledgehammer”, they’d have thought more about the limits they carry before sending this driver out at 3 am. The Safer/Safestat results for Associated Wholesale Grocers are actually pretty favorable, and the DOT confirmed their Satisfactory DOT rating in an audit after this crash occurred.
What puzzles me most on this is that “negligent homicide” is just a misdemeanor? I mean, I know he didn’t MEAN to not pay attention and run these cars down, but I can’t fathom 10 counts of the same still being considered a misdemeanor charge.
It’s hard to respect a legal system that renders a 30-day sentence to the grossly negligent 76 year old idiot who took 10 lives. He should have paid with the rest of his. I’m glad this company got slammed with the verdict. Anyone who has to hire and old man to drive a tractor/trailer is plain stupid. In this bad economy, there has to be plenty of younger drivers they could have hired. People of his advanced age should be banned from driving any commercial vehicle. RX drugs, poor eyesight, poor reaction time, inability to focus, bad reflexed all come into play. In addition, at age 76, your clock can run out at any time making you a hazard on the road.
I think the Wholesale Grocers are in a heap of trouble on this. I suppose they could take bankruptcy, re-organize and try to settle these claims for much less than the award. Lawyers have a field day on something like this.
I think the Wholesale Grocers are in a heap of trouble on this. I suppose they could take bankruptcy, re-organize and try to settle these claims for much less than the award. Lawyers have a field day on something like this.
What I found just as interesting is seeing that this company (Wholesale Grocers, or whatever their whole name is) has had trucks involved in four additional fatality-crashes since this wreck in June last year. If this huge settlement doesn’t eat them alive, the combination of the others just might. (AND the fact that the DOT shows the 76-yr old driver in this crash NOT to have been cited at the scene… Wow.)
Seems to me that perhaps that trucking company should look into some additional driving training.
As for this man, I DON’T understand how he is not spending the rest of his life in jail. Did he mean to kill those 10 people and permanently damage their family members lives? No, Probably not. Did he?
Yes he sure did. It doesn’t matter if he was 18 or 102, he still killed those people by not paying attention in a huge truck that is kind of like a battering ram. I know several truckers who know that it is their duty to watch out for cars, as they are bigger and most defiantly can and in most cases do kill people they run into. Fact of the matter is he should spend the rest of his life, however long it may be, in jail.
Since we have a case of a 76 year old driver and gross negligence, the wholesale grocer is going to pay dearly. I would bet their Umbrella or Excess policies will be very inadequate when all the dust clears from these proceedings. The lawyers will clean up as well on their percentages. Chapter 11 here they come.
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Do you thing the truckman had an Umbrella big enough to handle this? This may very well put them out of business.
I’m going to guess there wasn’t an umbrella in place (or certainly not one of any size), since there doesn’t seem to be an umbrella carrier named in the 10-page lawsuit, and their primary policy with ACE has a $2,000,000 limit on it. You’d think if they were going to put a 76 year old behind the wheel of an “80,000 sledgehammer”, they’d have thought more about the limits they carry before sending this driver out at 3 am. The Safer/Safestat results for Associated Wholesale Grocers are actually pretty favorable, and the DOT confirmed their Satisfactory DOT rating in an audit after this crash occurred.
What puzzles me most on this is that “negligent homicide” is just a misdemeanor? I mean, I know he didn’t MEAN to not pay attention and run these cars down, but I can’t fathom 10 counts of the same still being considered a misdemeanor charge.
Just sayin’ I’m glad I didn’t write this one!
Sorry, “80,000 LB sledgehammer”…
It’s hard to respect a legal system that renders a 30-day sentence to the grossly negligent 76 year old idiot who took 10 lives. He should have paid with the rest of his. I’m glad this company got slammed with the verdict. Anyone who has to hire and old man to drive a tractor/trailer is plain stupid. In this bad economy, there has to be plenty of younger drivers they could have hired. People of his advanced age should be banned from driving any commercial vehicle. RX drugs, poor eyesight, poor reaction time, inability to focus, bad reflexed all come into play. In addition, at age 76, your clock can run out at any time making you a hazard on the road.
I think the Wholesale Grocers are in a heap of trouble on this. I suppose they could take bankruptcy, re-organize and try to settle these claims for much less than the award. Lawyers have a field day on something like this.
I think the Wholesale Grocers are in a heap of trouble on this. I suppose they could take bankruptcy, re-organize and try to settle these claims for much less than the award. Lawyers have a field day on something like this.
What I found just as interesting is seeing that this company (Wholesale Grocers, or whatever their whole name is) has had trucks involved in four additional fatality-crashes since this wreck in June last year. If this huge settlement doesn’t eat them alive, the combination of the others just might. (AND the fact that the DOT shows the 76-yr old driver in this crash NOT to have been cited at the scene… Wow.)
Seems to me that perhaps that trucking company should look into some additional driving training.
As for this man, I DON’T understand how he is not spending the rest of his life in jail. Did he mean to kill those 10 people and permanently damage their family members lives? No, Probably not. Did he?
Yes he sure did. It doesn’t matter if he was 18 or 102, he still killed those people by not paying attention in a huge truck that is kind of like a battering ram. I know several truckers who know that it is their duty to watch out for cars, as they are bigger and most defiantly can and in most cases do kill people they run into. Fact of the matter is he should spend the rest of his life, however long it may be, in jail.
I feel badly for the family members…
If this is the claim I just heard about the other day, they have Umbrella Coverage. I don’t know the full lineup but several companies are involved.
Since we have a case of a 76 year old driver and gross negligence, the wholesale grocer is going to pay dearly. I would bet their Umbrella or Excess policies will be very inadequate when all the dust clears from these proceedings. The lawyers will clean up as well on their percentages. Chapter 11 here they come.