Automobile Accidents
TRACTOR-TRAILER STRIKES VEHICLE IN INTERSECTION: FAILURE TO OBEY SPEED LIMIT: VICARIOUS LIABILITY: WRONGFUL DEATHS
Powell v. Dean Foods Co., Ill., Cook Co. Cir., Nos. 03-L-015077 & 03-L-016261, Nov. 2, 2007.
Chakonas, 17, was driving her car with two passengers in it, Kakidas and McDonald, also both 17. As Chakonas attempted to make a left-hand turn at an intersection, a tractor-trailer, allegedly traveling approximately 10 m.p.h. over the speed limit, struck Chakonas’s car. All three occupants suffered fatal injuries.
The jury awarded plaintiffs $20.2 million, finding defendants 60 percent liable. It awarded $8 million each to the Kakidas and McDonald family, and $7 million to the Chakonas family, which was reduced to $4.2 million because of the jury’s finding that she was 40 percent contributorily negligent.
