As a truck accident lawyer and car accident lawyer, I am often asked how much can be recovered for a wrongful death distracted driver accident case.
As a New York prosecutor for over 36 years, I have prosecuted thousands of distracted drivers for cell phone violations, unreasonable speed, following too closely, personal injury accidents, property damage accidents and failure to keep right.
Two distracted truck drivers caused the death of Connor Dzion, an 18-year-old freshman at the University of North Florida. The two trucking companies who employed the truck drivers were ruled negligent in his wrongful death. Dzion’s parents were awarded $100 million for pain and suffering and $900 million for punitive damages.
Russel Rogatenko, the driver of an AJD Business Services Truck (“AJD”), was looking at his cell phone when he crashed and flipped his 18-wheeler on I-95. AJD did not investigate the driver’s fitness for employment or conduct a background check before allowing him to drive a semi- truck across the country. Had AJD done so, it would have found that Russel had been in several accidents and that he did not have a license to drive a commercial truck.
While sitting in traffic waiting for the Rogatenko accident to be cleared, Connor’s vehicle was rear-ended by a semi-truck owned by Kahkashan Carrier (“KC”) and driven by Yadwinder Sangha traveling at 70 miles per hour while on cruise control. The impact of the collision killed Connor. Data from the KC semi-truck showed that Yadwinder had set the cruise control to 70 miles per hour and had failed to brake until 1 second before the crash. The post-crash investigation also found that Yadwinder was on his 25th straight hour of driving, far exceeding the legal limit.
If you are a victim of a New York distracted driver, Rochester Car Accident Attorney Robert Friedman is available seven days a week for a free case evaluation at (585) 484-7432. He has the unique experience of having successfully prosecuted over 33,000 dangerous, reckless and distracted drivers for 36 years as a Vehicle & Traffic Prosecutor.