Parents Of Child Killed Driving ATV On Road Reach Settlement
Negligence/Auto - Wrongful Death - Dump Truck Hit Child Driving ATV - Trooper Said Child's Fault - Contrib Defense - Confidential Settlement
Type of action: Dump truck negligence
Injuries alleged: Death of nine-year-old boy
Name of case: Confidential
Court/county: Perquimans County Superior Court
Case no.: Confidential
Tried before: Mediation
Name of Judge: n/a
Special damages: n/a
Verdict/settlement: Settlement
Amount: Confidential
Date obtained: December 2005
Demand: n/a
Offer: n/a
Experts: Mike Sutton, accident reconstructionist, Raleigh
Insurer: N.C. Farm Bureau
Plaintiff's attorneys: Danny Glover Jr., Elizabeth City
Person submitting: Danny Glover
Description: A nine-year-old boy was driving his ATV out of his grandfather's driveway in a rural area when he was hit by a dump truck traveling on a rural paved road. The investigating trooper assigned all fault to the boy for driving into the road and running into the side of the dump truck. Farm Bureau denied the claim.
Plaintiffs filed suit, and the defense alleged contributory negligence of the boy and his surviving parents for letting him ride the ATV on the road, without a helmet and against the manufacturer's warnings that children under 16 should not operate the ATV.
Plaintiffs argued that the defendant's deposition testimony indicated that the defendant had seen the boy on his ATV in the driveway ahead and recognized that he posed a hazard. Plaintiffs alleged the defendant failed to keep a vigilant watch on the boy as he approached the driveway, failed to slow down, and failed to steer away from the driveway.
The plaintiffs' accident reconstructionist matched up the damage to the ATV with the damage to the dump truck and said that the entire collision would have been avoided had the dump truck moved away from the driveway by only a few inches. The parties settled for a confidential amount at mediation.
April 3, 2006