Posted on 11/03/2017 4:12:29 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
The parents of a medical school student killed in a 2015 Pembroke Pines crash were awarded $45 million in damages.
After a three-week trial that concluded Thursday, jurors awarded Jennifer and Reginald Astaphan damages in connection with the death of their 29-year-old son, Jonathan Raymond Astaphan, of Dominica.
Ranger Construction Industries, of West Palm Beach, was ordered to pay $35 million in damages; Juan Calero, the driver of the tractor-trailer in the chain-reaction crash, was ordered to pay an additional $10,005,000.
Astaphan was killed May 28, 2015, along Interstate 75 near Pines Boulevard as he crossed paths with a flatbed tractor-trailer hauling concrete barriers out of a construction area on the median. Calero blocked all of the highway’s lanes as Astaphan and other drivers approached.
The impact propelled Astaphan's 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer and the truck about a quarter-mile down the highway, shearing off the Lancer's roof, authorities said. Astaphan died at the scene. His passenger, Patrissia Rolle, then 25, of Davie, survived.
As that collision happened, Liza Angulo, 17, struck the back of the flatbed truck, causing concrete barriers to fall on her 2013 BMW. The Miramar teen was instantly killed.
Moments later, a second tractor-trailer struck a fallen barrier wall and Calero’s trailer. Neither truck driver was hurt.
Stuart Ratzan, an attorney representing the Astaphan family, said the construction company failed to safely guide its vehicles out of construction areas and into lanes of traffic, causing the fatal crash. The jurors found Ranger and Calero’s negligence caused Astaphan’s death.
“This is a reminder that our third branch of government has great power to protect all of us from harm and death, to make us safe,” Ratzan said.
“You’ve got to care about human life. That was the purpose and the mission for us in this case,” he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
were there no “construction zone” with reduced speeds posted?
I believe it was at night and The signs wer not visible. Very tragic accident.
This is a reminder that small passenger cars are at a supreme disadvantage vs. large construction trucks!
Will be interesting to see what the *final* payment ends up being. This is an area of the tort system that is fraught with inequities. The plaintiff ( Med student’s family ) can have a great lawyer and a well disposed jury. The defendants depend upon their insurance lawyers for the presentation of their case.
Frequently, the appeals process, based upon case law rather than a likely emotional proffer to the jury, reduce the awards and set retrials on more restrictive grounds. Not knowing anything other than what I read here, I give prayers for all involved. I do also say, even with all that I said above, this is a far better system of handling such grievous circumstances that you will find in most parts of the world.
What? Are they sure about that? I say BS regarding the distance. .
Uh, how did they protect your client?
Junior should have stayed in Dominica.
You can have signs, flagmen, state troopers, etc, etc, etc out on a construction site and people will still fly through it.
Signs are reflective, and there are illuminated traffic advisor signs.
If you like this verdict, you are going to hate your next insurance bill.
“What? Are they sure about that? I say BS regarding the distance. .”
Most assuredly pure BS.
A Mitsubishi anything hitting a rig is akin to a fly hitting your cars windshield.
Your car never even notices.
Yeah I say the same thing. A 2100 pound car doesn’t have enough mass to push a 80,000+ pound truck a quarter mile
“were there no “construction zone” with reduced speeds posted?”
Perhaps, reduced speed might have helped, but this guyed blocked the entire interstate.
“Calero blocked all of the highway’s lanes as Astaphan and other drivers approached.”
“were there no “construction zone” with reduced speeds posted?”
Surely you jest.
Construction zone signage and reduced speeds mean one thing to the average driver: go faster so I don’t get caught in a back up.
No consideration for safety whatsoever.
From what I see in that pic is a possibility of a unsecure load.
If those k-rails were properly secured, a car hitting the trailer shouldn’t have dislodged them.
“he impact propelled Astaphan’s 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer and the truck about a quarter-mile down the highway
What? Are they sure about that? I say BS regarding the distance. . “
2nd that. He must have been going about 300 moh.
So much for defensive driving.
“Juan Calero, the driver of the tractor-trailer “
Semi Drivers’ must have great incomes if he is able to pay this? ;^}
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