$5 Million Truck Accident Settlement Reached in Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against PG & E
A $5 million wrongful death settlement has been reached between the mother of a woman who died in a 2006 truck crash and PG & E. Lisa Bernstein says she wanted to hold the utility company responsible for the truck accident death of her daughter Mary Bernstein, 20. Also killed in the fatal collision was Mary’s boyfriend Robert Conway.
The driver of the PG & E utility truck that collided with the vehicle that Bernstein and Conway were in was John Mayfield, who is diabetic. Mayfield did not test his blood sugar and blacked out while in the driver’s seat. He has pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter for his role in the truck collision. Prosecutors said the truck crash could have been avoided if only Mayfield had tested his blood sugar level before driving the PG & E truck. The truck driver says the insulin injector was faulty.
Although the state’s privacy act prevents an employer from looking at a worker’s health records, Lisa claimed that the utility company should have known that Mayfield was hospitalized on two occasions because he didn’t properly manage his diabetes and that off the job, he had been involved in two other car accidents.
Per the terms of the wrongful death agreement, PG & E is agreeing that the resolution should be recorded as a judgment, rather than a confidential settlement. This will allow any future victims to look up the case when negotiating their personal injury settlements.
It was just last week that Verizon Communications was ordered to pay the family of another truck accident victim $7 million because employee Mark William Selander, who is also a diabetic, suffered a hypoglycemic attack while driving on the morning of September 2, 2009. Jose Raul Reyes Vega died from injuries he sustained during the truck crash.
Chicago, Illinois Truck Accidents
Even if your Chicago truck crash occurred because the truck driver suffered a medical emergency, you may still have grounds for a Chicago truck accident lawsuit. Diabetic attacks, heart attacks, seizures, fainting spells, and sleep apnea have been known to be the cause of tragic truck collisions.
PG&E to pay bereaved mother $5 million in wrongful death lawsuit, MercuryNews, July 6, 2010
Verizon to pay $7M in wrong-way driving suit, The Daily Sound, July 2, 2010
Related Web Resources:
Driving Q&A for People with Diabetes, DLife
