The family of a 30-year-old woman who died in Oregon\nin 2016 when her car was struck head-on by a tractor-trailer that was racing\nand speeding with two other tractor-trailers and a motorhome has been awarded a\n$26.5 million verdict by a federal jury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The victim, Sara Allison, of Boise, Idaho, died on\nJune 5, 2016, when her\ncar was struck<\/a> by a flat bed tractor-trailer being driven by James Decou, who\nwas driving the truck for Smoot Brothers Transportation of Utah, according to a\nMay 21 story on OregonLive<\/em>. The crash\noccurred on U.S. 20 as Allison drove east just outside of Burns, Ore. She died\nat the scene of the crash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Decou\nwas heading west on the highway and trying to pass another truck that was\nspeeding up and slowing down to keep Decou from getting around him,” the\nstory reported. Allison was driving a small Ford Focus automobile as she came\naround a bend and found Decou\u2019s truck heading directly toward her about 8:45\np.m., the report continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Decou\n“had been racing, speeding, aggressively honking, brake-checking and\ncutting off Jonathan Hogaboom, the driver of a motorhome for Wakarusa,\nIndiana-based Horizon Transport,” according to\ntestimony in the trial. “Hogaboom had kept Decou from getting back into\nthe westbound lane.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earlier\nthat day, Decou had been involved in similar aggressive\n“cat-and-mouse” driving with two other Smoot Brothers tractor-trailer\ndrivers, the story reported. Those drivers, Peter Barnes and Cory Frew, participated\nin similar driving for more than 90 miles on the highway, according to lawyers\nfor the plaintiffs. “Hogaboom had been instructed by his company to stay\noff Highway 20 in Oregon and drove off from the crash scene,” the story\nreported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sara\nAllison’s husband, Matthew Allison, was also in the car and was severely\ninjured, suffering broken ribs, a lacerated spleen and a concussion. He underwent\nsurgery at a nearby hospital after being flown by a medical helicopter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nAllisons had spent a day in Portland, Ore., where they attended a concert to\ncelebrate his blood cancer remission and then drove to visit Crater Lake, the\nstory said. The crash occurred as they drove home from Crater Lake to Idaho.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nOregon, where the crash occurred, the state has a wrongful death cap of $500,000,\nbut the judge in the case, U.S. District Judge Patricia Sullivan, allowed the\njury to award damages by applying the law from Idaho, where the Allisons lived.\nAfter deliberating for five hours following a two-week trial, the jury returned\nits $26.5 million verdict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just\nprior to the verdict being reached, the Smoot Brothers trucking company reached\na separate $900,000 settlement with the woman’s estate in the case, the report\nstates. That left Horizon Transport responsible for the rest of the $26.5\nmillion verdict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Smoot\nBrothers fired its drivers who were involved in the crash, while Decou pleaded\nguilty to second-degree manslaughter and was sentenced to 75 months in prison,\naccording to the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Legal cases like this one occur around the\nnation every day and are examples of similar kinds of car and truck crash cases\nthat MyPhillyLawyer<\/em> attorneys regularly work on tirelessly for\nour own clients. Often, we are not able to discuss the cases we are actively\nworking on due to confidentiality requirements, so we discuss other\nrelevant cases in the news such as this one to illustrate the legal situations\npeople find themselves in every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you need a truck accident\ninjury attorney<\/a>,\nwe here at MyPhillyLawyer<\/em> stand ready to assist you with your\nlegal case if you or a loved one is ever seriously injured in any kind of car\nor truck crash, slip and fall, workplace injury or wrongful death in\nPhiladelphia or anywhere in the United States. We pledge to make sure that you\nand your family get the compassionate, dogged and experienced legal\nrepresentation that you deserve and expect from a professional legal team which\nworks hard to uncover every fact to bolster your case and maximize your damage\naward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We represent the families of victims who die\nin such tragedies as well, to ensure that their families receive every penny of\ndamages that they are eligible to receive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Talk to a Philadelphia car crash attorney\nat MyPhillyLawyer<\/em><\/a> by calling 215-227-2727 or\ntoll-free at 1-866-907-2231 anytime and our experienced, compassionate,\naggressive team of attorneys and support staff will be there for you and your\nfamily every step of the way as we manage your case through the legal system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n