$4.5 Million: Trucking Accident
A Miami Jury awared Leslie Reid (victim’s husband) and Keishan Lewis (victim’s daughter) $4.5 Million for the wrongful death of Joan Pauline Bryan, who was ejected from her vehicle when her vehicle was struck by the defendant’s Tractor Trailer.
On May 21, 2001, Joan Pauline Bryan was driving eastbound on the Palmetto Expressway in a minivan. Her passengers included her mother, her sister, her nephew, and her niece. While on route to the small Jamaican restaurant which Ms. Bryan’s mother operated, the minivan broke down, and Ms. Bryan moved it as far to the right as she could. The minivan came to a complete stop in the moving lane of traffic farthest to the right, near the 27th avenue exit ramp.
The Defendant, Ray Sellars, was driving a tractor trailer (truck cab) owned by him and permanently leased to Defendant SAIA Motor Freight Line, Inc. Sellars was traveling eastbound on the Palmetto Expressway at approximately 7:00 a.m. on a clear, sunny, Saturday morning, in the third lane from the right of the concrete median. An additional thru lane of travel was to his right, which led to the exit ramp for 27th Avenue.
When Sellars approached the 27th Avenue Exit, he was traveling sixty miles per hour, approximately 140 feet behind another eighteen-wheeler. Sellars conceded in deposition that this was an unsafe following distance. Sellars moved to the far right lane to make the 27th Avenue exit, realized that the minivan was disabled in the lane in front of him, and steered left while hitting his brakes to avoid the van. Sellars hit the minivan, slamming it into the guardrail, and ejecting three of the five passengers. Florida Highway Patrol verified that at least two of the three ejected individuals were belted, but their seatbelts offered no protection because the impact was so severe it collapsed their seatbacks and allowed them to be ejected backwards out the cargo door of the van. Joan Pauline Bryan, who was ejected onto the guardrail, died at the scene.
The jury awarded $2.5 million to Bryan’s husband and $2 million to her daughter, Keishan Lewis. They found Bryan comparatively neglegent and reduced the verdict by 60%.
Ervin A. Gonzalez was lead counsel on the preparation and execution of the case and worked with co-counsel. He is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law and Business Litigation by the Florida Bar and the National Board of Trial Advocacy. Mr. Gonzalez is an appointed member of the National Board of Trustees of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy. He is currently on the Board of Governors for The Florida Bar and is past President of The Dade County Bar Association. Mr. Gonzalez has also served as President of the Dade County Trial Lawyers Association and is an adjunct professor at The University of Miami School of Law. His areas of expertise include catastrophic injuries, wrongful death, medical malpractice, product liability, aviation accidents, trucking accidents, commercial litigation, and class action litigation.