Truck Accidents verdicts & settlements

A Nassau County jury found two trucking companies responsible for the 2017 chain-reaction crash on I-95 near Yulee that killed 18-year-old Connor Dzion, returning a $1 billion verdict that Curry Pajcic won for the teen's parents.

A St. Louis jury returned a $462 million verdict against trailer maker Wabash National for a 2019 underride crash that killed two young fathers, with the award later reduced to approximately $119.5 million by the trial judge.

A Santa Fe jury awarded $165.5 million, the largest verdict in New Mexico history, to the survivors of a young mother and her daughter killed when a FedEx tractor-trailer plowed into their stopped pickup at highway speed on Interstate 10.

A Jefferson Circuit Court jury awarded $163,973,760 to Jilianne Warner, who was left permanently quadriplegic after a GEICO-dispatched tow truck plowed into her stopped car at highway speed; the verdict was later overturned on appeal.

A Nassau County jury awarded $141.5 million, including $125 million in punitive damages, against K&N Logging after an unvetted driver's 80,000-pound log truck plowed into stopped school-zone traffic and left a young child with permanent brain damage.

A Wayne County jury awarded $96 million to the widow of a New Jersey father and his college-baseball-star son, both killed when a Challenger Motor Freight semi rear-ended their SUV in a Detroit-area construction zone while the driver was on three Parkinson's disease medications that warned against operating heavy equipment.

A retrial jury in Utah's Fourth District Court awarded $81 million against Beacon Roofing Supply after one of its trucks struck and killed a 12-year-old boy who was crossing legally in a marked crosswalk.

A New Mexico jury awarded $58.5 million, believed at the time to be the state's largest truck verdict, to the family of Kevin Udy, a mechanical engineer killed in 2010 when a tanker truck turned into his path on a highway near Carlsbad.

A Los Angeles County jury awarded $53.7 million to two brothers left with traumatic brain injuries after a CRST big rig crossed the center line on State Route 14 and hit their car head-on.

A Winnebago County jury awarded $52 million to the Krischon family for a 2018 crash caused by an off-tracking Panera Bread semi-truck that killed an 88-year-old man and seriously injured his son, finding the company and its driver 90 percent at fault. The award was part of a $67 million total verdict that also compensated a second family represented by separate counsel.

A Van Nuys jury held the City of Los Angeles responsible for catastrophic injuries to a pedestrian struck inside a marked Encino crosswalk by a city sanitation truck.

A Clark County jury returned $38.8 million against Republic Services after one of its garbage trucks turned through a marked crosswalk and struck and killed an 11-year-old girl who was crossing with the walk signal.

A Cook County jury awarded the Yoder family $38.3 million after a multi-truck pileup on Interstate 90 near Rockford killed their four-year-old daughter and left their two-year-old son permanently disabled, and the verdict survived appeal in 2008.

A Dallas County jury found Oncor's driver 84 percent at fault and awarded $37.5 million to the widow and three children of trucker Shamsher Singh, killed on I-635 when a distracted Oncor service-truck driver struck his stopped 18-wheeler.

A Los Angeles jury awarded $35,285,942 to an 81-year-old man who suffered a spinal fracture and permanent injuries after a tractor-trailer rear-ended the vehicle he was riding in on Interstate 10.

Zehl & Associates secured a $35 million settlement for the family of Susana Longoria, a 31-year-old nursing student and single mother killed when a Ben E. Keith 18-wheeler struck her disabled car and the people helping her on I-35W in Fort Worth.

A Sacramento County jury awarded $34,921,215 to Debra Hackett and her husband after a Silva Trucking tractor-trailer jackknifed on Highway 12 and left Debra paralyzed from the waist down with a traumatic brain injury.

A Warren County jury awarded $27,335,667.87 after a Monarch Environmental garbage truck parked illegally on a rural Kentucky road put a 17-year-old in a coma for 57 days and left her with permanent brain damage.

A Denver jury awarded $26.6 million to two adult siblings whose parents were both killed when a drowsy CWRV Transport driver rear-ended their stopped vehicle at 75 mph on a Colorado highway.

A federal jury in Pendleton held two trucking companies and their drivers responsible for a 90-mile road-rage chase that ended in a fatal head-on crash, returning a $26.5 million verdict that survived the defendants' appeal intact.

Feldman Shepherd secured a $26.1 million settlement for the family of a man killed and a husband left with a traumatic brain injury when a tractor-trailer hit stopped traffic on Interstate 80 at more than 70 mph.

The State of Hawaii settled for $26 million with Jimmy Braddock, who suffered catastrophic and permanent brain injuries when a Pinky Tows flatbed lost its brakes on Likelike Highway in 2019 while the state had left the road's only runaway-truck ramp blocked and unrepaired for 46 days.

A Sacramento jury awarded $24.3 million, then reduced to $22.5 million under a High-Low Agreement, to a 14-year-old girl who was crushed beneath the rear wheels of her father's big rig and faced at least 19 more surgeries.

A federal jury in Wichita awarded $23.5 million to a Yellow Freight co-driver left with debilitating injuries after a Swift Transportation driver, impaired by methamphetamine, backed her rig from a rest stop onto U.S. Highway 54 in New Mexico.

A Richmond jury awarded $23 million to a commercial truck driver who suffered a traumatic brain injury, crushed pelvis, and right-leg amputation when a Moen Inc. tractor-trailer parked in the emergency lane of I-295 pulled back into traffic and was struck by his rig at highway speed.

A Wayne County jury awarded $22.6 million to port truck driver Burt Holt, who suffered a traumatic brain injury and permanent disability when a negligent driver struck him while he inspected his trailer at a Detroit shipping terminal in 2011.

A pedestrian walking home from work in Cobb County lost both legs after a tractor-trailer struck and dragged him through an intersection and fled the scene; Fried Goldberg identified the unknown driver and carrier and secured a $21 million settlement.

A Cobb County jury awarded $20 million after a tractor-trailer ran a red light in Kennesaw and left a 57-year-old Pakistani immigrant with permanent, catastrophic brain damage.

An Alameda County jury awarded $18,574,222 to Juanita Cerrato, who suffered a traumatic brain injury after she swerved to avoid a tractor-trailer left blocking her lane on a Fresno highway near midnight.

After a Spirit Truck Lines semi killed TDOT field supervisor David Younger and injured several of his crew on Interstate 40, Rocky McElhaney filed a wrongful-death and injury suit publicly seeking $18 million; the final outcome was not reported.

A Sacramento County jury awarded $17,220,807 to Lethesia Guzman, whose car stalled on the Yolo Causeway before a Morning Star tomato truck set off the chain-reaction crash that killed her fiance and left her with catastrophic injuries.

A DeKalb County jury awarded $16.66 million to a 21-year-old who suffered a traumatic brain injury and lasting mobility limitations after a chain-reaction crash on I-285 sent his car underneath a Brown Trucking Company big rig.

A Philadelphia jury held J.B. Hunt Transport 40% liable for catastrophic injuries to a roadside pedestrian after finding the freight broker failed to screen its independent-contractor driver, who was operating with a blood alcohol level more than four times the commercial legal limit.

A federal jury awarded $15.1 million to a quadriplegic railroad worker and his wife after a CSX train struck his vehicle at a blind crossing in 1985, making it the largest personal injury verdict in North Carolina history at the time, though the Fourth Circuit later vacated the judgment and remanded for retrial.

Scott Busch was crossing a Portland crosswalk with the right-of-way when a McInnis Waste Systems garbage truck struck him and severed his leg; a jury awarded $13.5 million, and the Oregon Supreme Court struck down the state's $500,000 noneconomic damages cap as applied to his case.

Cannon & Dunphy recovered $12 million for two families after an illegally overloaded cement truck ran a red light in Waukesha County, killing a van's driver and leaving a passenger with permanent brain injuries.

The Dominguez Firm won $11.8 million for Oscar Esparza, a driver left with a traumatic brain injury when a Win Distribution truck rear-ended his stopped car near the I-15 interchange, a result that ranked among the top 20 personal injury verdicts in California that year.

A Bradford County jury returned an $11,629,759.42 verdict for Michael Pelfrey after a truck driver working under J.B. Hunt's authority rear-ended his vehicle at a Starke traffic light, leaving Pelfrey with serious and permanent injuries. The jury assigned Pelfrey 20 percent of the fault, and the court entered a net final judgment of $9,293,807.54.

A South Carolina warehouse worker suffered permanent lumbar spinal injuries when a commercial trailer's improperly installed landing gear buckled during loading, sending a jury to award Anthony Avery $7.48 million in compensatory damages and $2.8 million in punitive damages against MG Logistics, Inc.

A tractor-trailer drifted into a retired 20-year veteran's lane on Interstate 95 North and killed him, and Marks & Harrison recovered $10 million for his family before any lawsuit was filed.

An eight-person federal jury awarded $10 million to the widow and two children of Christopher Short, 44, who died when a Marvin Keller Trucking driver crossed the I-64 median in Bath County, Kentucky, in March 2019.

Cannon & Dunphy recovered $10 million for the husband and two children of a 37-year-old woman who was killed when a Waste Management truck ran a stop sign and struck her van in Kent County, Michigan.

Steven Gursten secured $9 million for a Michigan man who lost both legs after an Atsalis Brothers work truck rear-ended and split his Saturn on I-94, a figure Michigan Lawyers Weekly reported as the state's largest pain-and-suffering recovery of the preceding decade.

A Flagler County jury awarded trucker Jo'Relle Deleston $8.64 million after a TDC Transportation truck drifted out of its lane and back across I-95 into him, flipping his rig and breaking his neck.

A federal jury awarded Aldin Lewis $7.8 million after a Chandi 209 Trucking semi pulled onto W. Reno Avenue without stopping at a stop sign, blocking both eastbound lanes and leaving Lewis no room to brake.

Allen, Allen, Allen and Allen secured a $7.6 million settlement for a U.S. Army logistics officer who suffered life-threatening injuries after colliding with a disabled pickup truck that a tractor-trailer had left blocking Interstate 64 at 3:30 in the morning.

A San Bernardino County jury awarded truck driver Efrain Perez roughly $7.3 million after another big rig rear-ended the disabled semi he was helping to repair, throwing him to the pavement and causing a traumatic brain injury.

After a Detmar Logistics frac sand truck fatally injured Nanasha Ra-Nee Mild in 2018, Sutliff & Stout identified six liable parties and secured a $6.09 million settlement that ranked ninth among all Texas civil settlements in 2019.

Brown & Crouppen helped Zachary Patchin's family reach a $5.97 million settlement after an Ice Cream Factory box truck crossed into oncoming traffic in a no-passing zone and killed both drivers on U.S. 50 in Osage County, Missouri.

A Miami jury awarded $5.2 million to the estate of cyclist Miguel Del Angel Ortiz, killed in a 2022 truck collision, after Goldberg and Rosen attorneys rejected a $80,000 settlement and proved the driver was distracted on a phone call.

A Hamilton County jury awarded $5,211,500 to a tow truck driver severely injured by sulfuric acid from a Simon's Trucking tractor-trailer wreck on Interstate 75, a verdict the Florida Supreme Court ultimately upheld in a landmark ruling that expanded personal injury recovery under the state's Water Quality Assurance Act.

Habush Habush & Rottier recovered $4.5 million for a Green Bay woman whose left leg was amputated after a Veolia Solid Waste Midwest garbage truck ran her over in a downtown crosswalk while she had the walk signal.

Steven Gursten secured a $3.9 million wrongful death settlement after a gravel hauler driven by a trucker on epilepsy medication, in a rig that was out of service in more than five ways, killed Patrick Nunez on I-75 in Detroit.

A Shelby County jury awarded tanker driver Donriel Borne $3,705,000 after a Celadon tractor-trailer rear-ended him in stopped construction-zone traffic on Interstate 55, and the case later set the standard Tennessee appellate courts use to review a reduced verdict.

A Jackson County jury awarded James and Kim Fairley $3.5 million after a Schiber Truck Co. tractor-trailer rear-ended their minivan and pushed it into oncoming traffic, leaving James Fairley with a traumatic brain injury and two fractured vertebrae.

A 53-year-old nurse rear-ended by a semi-truck on Highway 94 suffered a mild traumatic brain injury that cut her working capacity in half, and a three-attorney arbitration panel awarded her $3,041,784 after four years of litigation.

A 53-year-old pedestrian hit from behind by a box truck at about 35 mph and thrown more than 34 feet, leaving him with a traumatic brain injury and multiple fractures, settled his claim for $2.5 million.

A Shelby County jury awarded Julius Malone and his wife $2,519,772 after an ASF Intermodal semi-truck merged into his lane on I-240 in Memphis, and Tennessee's noneconomic-damages cap later reduced the judgment to $1,529,772.

A Weber County jury awarded $2.5 million in non-economic damages ($1.875 million after a 25 percent comparative-fault reduction) to the widow of a Utah man fatally struck by a New Prime semi-truck near his broken-down vehicle on the I-15 shoulder. The Utah Court of Appeals later reversed the verdict and remanded for a new trial.

A commercial truck driver who suffered a traumatic brain injury when a double stack of unsecured pallets spilled onto her settled her North Carolina claim for $2.2 million.

Law Offices of James Scott Farrin attorney Preston Lesley secured a $2 million settlement for an 8-year-old whose left foot was degloved and partially amputated after a dump truck ran over it at a North Carolina truck stop.

A Bexar County jury returned a $1,985,430 verdict for Michelle Gibbons after a multi-vehicle collision involving a Danco Construction truck driven by Samuel Reyna Montalvo, though the Fourth Court of Appeals reversed and remanded in August 2025.

A Sacramento jury awarded Robert Venkus $1,670,689 after a dump truck driver employed by Biondi Paving drifted into his lane on Arden Way; with CCP 998 costs and accrued interest, the net recovery reached $1,852,325.95.

Whitley Law Firm recovered $1,847,000 for a cyclist who was struck and run over by a dump truck turning right across a marked bike lane, after injuries that took nine surgeries and five weeks of intensive care.

A loaded dump truck whose brakes had been flagged for replacement the day before crossed into oncoming traffic and struck an active-duty Air Force servicemember head-on, fracturing his hip, leg, and arm; the case settled for $1.225 million in April 2023.

A U.S. District Court jury in Connecticut returned an $850,000 verdict for a sole-proprietor owner-operator trucker who was struck while parked on an exit ramp when a second rig rolled backward into him, more than four times the defense's final offer.

Jonathan Hollan of Sam Aguiar Injury Lawyers won a $728,218 jury verdict for a plaintiff whose cargo van was struck when a tractor-trailer jackknifed during rush-hour traffic on Louisville's Gene Snyder Freeway.

A 53-year-old Middletown man who suffered a torn rotator cuff, a torn meniscus requiring two knee surgeries, and a right hip tear after a Poolman Pools dump truck rear-ended his Saturn settled his case for $400,000 in 2019.

A commercial truck rolled into a driver stopped at a Nashville red light, and a Davidson County jury awarded $277,966, including $165,000 in non-economic damages, for the rotator cuff tear that followed.

After a speeding dump truck swerved, struck her stopped car and tipped over in front of her, Brown & Crouppen settled Mary Bourne's spinal injury claim for $245,000.

In Hamer v. Duffy, 2026 SD 4, the South Dakota Supreme Court ruled unanimously that violations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations adopted into state law can constitute negligence per se, reversing a zero-damages jury verdict and remanding for a new trial.