Confidential Settlement
Debra Hungate Driskell and Menzo Driskell V. Kenny Enterprises, LLC; Daniel Dairell Zeigler; An Ngoc Tran, et al. (United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama Northern Division | CASE NO. 1:17-CV-0090)
On July 24, 2016 at 5:30 a.m., while driving to work, Debby Driskell stopped at a red light at an intersection in Selma, Alabama. Thirteen seconds later, without warning and while the traffic light remained red, her truck was violently rear-ended by a tractor-trailer owned by Kenny Enterprises, LLC.
As a result, Debby suffered lacerations to her head, face and scalp; a closed head injury; left clavicle fracture; torn rotator cuff and multiple rib fractures. She underwent medical treatments, including shoulder surgery, will require surgery in the future and remains permanently injured and scarred.
Plaintiffs alleged that the defendants had a duty to: properly and safely operate, inspect, maintain, service and/or repair the tractor-trailer rig; and had a duty to properly and adequately hire, train, educate, instruct and/or supervise the rig’s driver. They also alleged that the defendants negligently failed to abide by the Alabama Rules of the Road, the Federal Motor Carrier Safely Administration’s regulations and/or other applicable rules, regulations and standards.
Debby Driskell does not remember any details of the crash, and the tractor-trailer driver told police that she pulled into his lane of travel unexpectedly. Additionally, in their answer to the complaint, the defendants denied that the tractor-trailer rear-ended Debby’s vehicle and alleged that she was herself guilty of negligence. Furthermore, as part of the Report of the Parties filed with the Court, the defendants stated that Debby caused the accident by suddenly and improperly changing lanes in front of the tractor-trailer. Our firm’s investigation uncovered video footage from a nearby business that showed the truth about exactly what happened in the crash. This video footage was key to obtaining the confidential settlement that was reached between the parties, as it proved Debby was completely stopped at the red light when she was violently hit from behind by the speeding tractor-trailer.
