A jury awarded country music star Toby Keith and his family $2.8 million in the wrongful death of his father, H.K. Covel, who was killed in a motor vehicle crash in 2001. Keith, his mother Carolyn Covel, his sister Tonni, and his brother Tracey were the other plaintiffs named in the lawsuit.
Elias Rodriguez and Pedro Rodriguez of Rodriguez Transportes and the Republic Western Insurance Co. were named as defendants in the wrongful death lawsuit.
Details of the Fatal Crash:
A charter bus belonging to the Rodriguezes collided with the truck that H.K. Covel was riding in on March 2001. The bus’s brakes were in serious need of repair. The collision occurred when Covel’s truck crossed over the center median and hit the bus.
At first, Keith’s family thought that the accident occurred because Covel was suffering from a medical condition. They later found out that another car had hit his truck, causing him to swerve his truck across the median. Keith’s family says that H.K. would have survived if the collision with the bus if the bus’s brakes had been working properly.
The drivers and operators of trucks are upheld to higher standards of safety than car drivers and motorcyclists. Common causes of bus crashes include driver inexperience, driver negligence, drunk driving, speeding, improper maintenance, a faulty engine, and defective breaks.
When failure to properly maintain any kind of vehicle-especially failure to maintain a common carrier-results in the death of an innocent victim, the family of the decedent is entitled to recover wrongful death compensation.
In Massachusetts, an experienced Massachusetts wrongful death lawyer can help you file your claim or lawsuit. The lawsuit must be filed within the three-year statute of limitations allowed in Massachusetts. The three years deadline expires either three years from the victim’s date of death or three years from the time that the decedent’s estate found out (or should have found out) that there is grounds to file a wrongful death lawsuit.
Toby Keith and family win $2.8M over dad’s death, Bostonherald.com, December 26, 2007
Related Web Resources:
Summary of State Wrongful Death and Intestacy Statutes