Teenager suffered severe injuries when struck by intoxicated truck driver with criminal history
DALLAS - Less than one week prior to the start of jury selection in Dallas County District Court, a confidential settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed by the family of a 16-year-old girl from Wylie, Texas, who suffered a traumatic brain injury when she was struck by a drunken delivery truck driver while riding her bicycle. Evidence in the case showed that the driver had a criminal history including multiple arrests for drug-related offenses at the time he was approved to drive for a large, interstate trucking carrier with a terminal located in Irving, Texas.
Now 18 years of age, the plaintiff sustained severe injuries when the truck driver improperly swung wide onto the street next to her home, drove on the wrong side of the road, and struck her nearly head-on as she rode her bicycle next to her home. Testimony and phone records established that the driver was looking down at his cell phone moments before impact. The force of the impact threw the plaintiff nearly 25 feet, fracturing her skull, pelvis and causing permanent injuries to her brain.
“It is a tragedy that a child with limitless potential became the innocent victim of the defendants' disastrous hiring decisions and the actions of one individual. Her life will be forever impacted, and that's unacceptable. I'm happy for my client and proud of our trial team for this result,” says attorney Michael Lyons of the Dallas-based litigation boutique Lyons & Simmons, LLP, who represents the Plaintiff.
A police investigation concluded that the driver was drunk and operating on the wrong side of the road when his truck hit the plaintiff. The defendant driver ultimately plead guilty to intoxication assault causing serious bodily injury and is currently serving a four year sentence with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
At the time of the crash, the driver had a criminal history that included a felony drug arrest for which he was indicted and later plead guilty. The trucking company's own criteria made him ineligible to drive due to his criminal and driving history. Despite this, he was authorized to drive and ultimately caused this crash resulting in a tragedy. His blood alcohol level was estimated to be .24 at the time of the crash.
Lyons & Simmons, LLP, has offices in Dallas and Houston and maintains a reputation as one of the state's premier litigation boutique firms. Its lawyers routinely handle high-stakes cases of all kinds for plaintiffs and defendants, including business disputes, products liability, personal injury, wrongful death, real estate, intellectual property, securities, and construction cases.