The jury in a wrongful death lawsuit in Albemarle County, Virginia has reached a verdict on November 12, 2009 in the wrongful death of a 16-year-old when she was hit by a truck in 2008.
Sydney Aichs was killed while driving on U.S. Highway 29 when a semi-truck driven by Kenneth Barbour ran a red light and hit Aichs. The jury ruled in favor of Aichs and settlements of $1.75 million were awarded to Aichs’s father, mother and brother. Funeral expenses of $50,000 were also paid.
The family of Sydney Aichs is seen here leaving the courtroom after a jury ruled in favor of them and applied a $5.25M settlement. (SOURCE: WAHU Fox 27)
Our wrongful death attorneys unfortunately see cases like this where a driver’s bad decision is the cause of a fatal car accident. Semi truck accidents often have catastrophic results, so truckers should be more careful than the other drivers on the road. Any mistakes and their heavy load could be a deadly battering ram on the freeway. In short, preventing these types of accidents should be a high priority.
According to testimony in the case, a traffic light turned yellow, and Barbour continued anyway instead of coming to a stop at the red light. His decision to attempt to run the red light caused Aichs’s wrongful death.
Barbour stated in court that he accepted full responsibility for the crash. He also told the jury that he already pleaded guilty to manslaughter and will serve a two-year prison sentence. Barbour’s supervisor testified in court that his employee knew the route well, and when the light turned yellow, he should have stopped.
Our wrongful death lawyers believe all drivers need to exercise caution when they are driving. Large frieght drivers and semi-truck drivers need to be even more careful because of the size of their vehicles in relation to regular cars. If a car gets into an automobile accident with one, the damage will almost always be worse on the smaller automobile.
Please feel free to call us now at 1-800-655-6585 or you can click here for a free consultation with an experienced wrongful death attorney. We have a large bilingual staff that can assist you in either English or Spanish. No fee if no recovery.
About Michael PinesMichael Pines is a former insurance company attorney who specializes in car accident injury. While he was an insurance attorney, he learned from behind the scenes on how insurance companies work and how they decided to pay injured people. Now that he works against insurance companies, Michael's inside knowledge has resulted in significant benefits to his clients injured in car accidents.
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Tags: running a red light, semi truck accident, wrongful death settlement
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