Dan Munley Wins $850,000 Settlement in Truck Accident Case

An accident on I-81 in Luzerne County resulted in a Massachusetts-based trucking company and its driver agreeing to pay an $850,000 settlement. The recipient of the award, Robert Reed of Irving, Texas was injured on his motorcycle.

An overturned garbage truck created a mile-and-a-half traffic backup. Mr. Reed was stuck in the traffic jam when a 53-foot rig, owned by Truckadyne Transportation Inc., slammed into him and several other vehicles. Although the traffic jam was clearly visible and other tractor trailer drivers had been sending alerts over their CB radios, the Truckadyne driver ignored the warnings and crashed into Mr. Reed’s motorcycle.

Mr. Reed, who was thrust into the air by the impact, suffered numerous fractures including a pelvis, hip, foot and ribs, as well as internal bleeding. One of his thumbs was torn off and needed to be surgically reattached. Mr. Reed missed more than eight months of work, but his job future is in doubt because his condition may deteriorate over time.

Atty. Munley uncovered company documents indicating that the driver had repeatedly violated the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act in the days leading up to the accident. These violations included numerous instances of driving more than the permitted 10 hours in any 24 hour period.

“You have a recipe for disaster when you allow a truck driver to consistently drive over his allotted hours,” declared Atty. Munley. “One has to wonder whether this driver was too tired to be driving on that particular day since he ignored numerous warnings.”

(Excerpt of article By Frank Scholz, Scranton Times Staff Writer)