$5 Million Settlement: Wrongful Death
In an especially tragic case, Ervin A. Gonzalez obtained a five million dollar settlement in a suit against the Michigan-based trucking company, Reliable Carriers, and others, whose negligence caused the death of 19-year old Ianpeter Opitz, a gifted young man looking forward to a career in medicine.
A pre-med student at Florida International University in Miami, he was also an accomplished concert violinist and a member of the Greater Miami Youth Symphony. He was a competitive swimmer who won numerous awards and served on several Miami-based swim teams. He wrote poetry, was a member of the National Honor Society, the National Beta Club, and was the recipient of the President’s Academic Fitness Award in 1990.
Ianpeter Opitz never got to realize his dream of a medical career. On March 11, 1995, he and two of his friends were riding in a Volkswagen. The teenaged Opitz was sitting in the front passenger seat. One friend was driving and another was sitting in back when the driver was forced to swerve to avoid a tractor-trailer rig parked illegally in a lane reserved for traffic on South Miami Avenue.
In the dark, and while maneuvering a split-second attempt to avoid a collision with the tractor-trailer, the driver did not see the 16-foot metal loading ramp, elevated approximately four feet from ground level, was extending from the rear of the rig. Unfortunately the front right side of the Volkswagen slammed into the ramp, and Ianpeter Opitz was killed.
The tragedy was caused by gross negligence, Gonzalez filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Opitz family against the owner of the tractor trailer, Reliable Holdings, the drivers, Raymond and Paula Balestra of Balestra Transportation, who also owned the rig, and Reliable Carriers, the company who employed the Balestras.
On the night of the fatal accident, the Balestras had parked to load a minivan which had been on display during a “Carnival Miami” sponsors’ party. The defendants extended the ramp, but did not place any warning devices in the street to alert drivers that the rig and its ramp were blocking the traffic lane.
“There were no flares, markers, flashing lights, or reflective triangles; nothing to warn on-coming drivers.” “When the ramp was extended, the tail lights and brake lights were disconnected, so there were no red lights visible to approaching traffic, and the ramp itself had no lights or reflectors,” says Mr. Gonzalez.
The case was settled before trial for $ 5 million.