Brown & Crouppen Settles for $245,000 After Loaded Dump Truck Tips Over In Front of Stopped Driver in Jefferson County

In 2016, Mary Bourne was stopped at a Jefferson County, Missouri intersection in her 2013 Chevrolet when a dump truck loaded with topsoil came up behind the same light. According to her attorneys, the truck was moving too fast to stop. Rather than brake, it swung into a turn it could not hold, struck her car, and rolled onto its side directly in front of her.

"Because of the truck's speed, it tipped over right in front of her," said Richard Zalasky, one of her attorneys at Brown & Crouppen. "Fortunately, it didn't crush her." The fully loaded truck came to rest feet from the Chevrolet.

Bourne, who was 61, suffered spinal injuries along with other harm from the impact. She went through pain-management injections rather than surgery. Her lawyers said an operation was not recommended because of her age and several preexisting conditions, which complicated both her recovery and the way the defense valued the claim.

Bourne sued the parties behind the truck, naming Arnold Ready Mix Inc., LKM LLC, and the driver, Richard Bourbon. The case was filed in Jefferson County Circuit Court as 17JE-CC00294. Zalasky and Seth Hicks of Brown & Crouppen handled the claim. The defense, led by Peter Dunne and Robert Plunkert, took the position that she had recovered well. The truck's insurer was Bitco Insurance.

The two sides reached a settlement of $245,000, entered June 19, 2019. Because the case resolved by agreement and not a jury award, there was no verdict to appeal and no remittitur. "The good news was that she recovered well from the injuries sustained, and we were able to reach an agreement that everybody was satisfied with," Dunne said.

The payment covered Bourne's medical treatment and her remaining symptoms from a crash in which a loaded dump truck tipped over just in front of her stopped car.