Dino Colombo and the team at Colombo Law recently settled a trucking case from a collision out of the Clarksburg, WV area for $18.25 million. Dino and the Colombo Law team were honored to represent a lady from Clarksburg who was terribly injured when a truck registered as a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) blew through a stop light at the intersection of U.S. Route 50 West and Old Bridgeport Hill Road in Harrison County, WV. The case was filed in Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia.
The truck was registered with the Department of Transportation (DOT) and was owned and operated by a natural gas company from Pennsylvania. The natural gas company put profit over safety and hired a driver who had been convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol twice (2 DUIs), had his license suspended, was a fugitive from justice and had a warrant out for his arrest. This is the person that the Natural Gas Company hired to drive their truck!
The gas company was found by the trial court to have fraudulently concealed a joint venture business relationship which they had with another out of state company and was found to have destroyed the Driver Qualification file for the driver who was operating their truck in violation of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations.
The victim of this truck accident suffered a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), a fractured femur, a T4 Chance Fracture requiring spinal fusion, had vascular injuries requiring an embolectomy and fasciotomies and had multiple other orthopedic injuries. The client spent considerable time in a rehabilitation hospital as well as a nursing home. She currently needs continuous care as a result of her TBI.
Colombo Law hired a team of experts to investigate and reconstruct this collision. Experts in the field of engineering who specialize in accident reconstruction, experts in the field of trucking, operation of CMVs and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) as well as experts in the field of rehabilitation medicine, life care planning, and forensic economics were hired to assist in the prosecution of this case.
When the gas companies and their insurance companies realized they had nowhere to hide, they finally had no choice but to pay this poor lady and her family what they truly deserved as a result of the terrible acts of negligent and reckless conduct.
