Semi Tractor-Trailer May Have Violated Right-Of-Way, May Never Face Responsibility

Multiple Central Florida media outlets reported this morning about a fatal crash that occurred on Highway 27 at Frank Jerrell Road in Lake County.  Apparently, Roldan Gonzalez-Janero was trying to pull his semi tractor-trailer from Frank Jerell Road across northbound Highway 27, and then on to southbound Highway 27.  Unfortunately, Mr. Gonzalez-Janero never made it that far.

At the same time as Mr. Gonzalez-Janero was moving his truck across the highway, a Lake County man was operating his S.U.V. on northbound Highway 27.  Although Florida Highway Patrol investigators don't know exactly why, the S.U.V. apparently ran into the rear-end area of semi tractor-trailer.  The Lake County man was tragically killed in the crash.

This case reminds me a lot of a case we tried two years ago in Orange County.  In our case, a truck driver had pulled his fully loaded box truck out of a side street, directly into the path of our client's Mustang.  The crash was catastrophic, and our client suffered a fractured skull and brain injury. Our client was in a coma for a week, and his brain injury was such that he could not remember anything leading up to the crash.

The truck driver insisted that he never saw our client before he pulled out from the side street.  He claimed his looked carefully both ways before moving his truck, and even testified that he paused in the median, and looked a second time, and still saw nothing.  The truck driver testified he had no idea there would be a crash until he felt the impact of our client's car hitting his truck behind the cab.

Quite obviously, our client's car was not invisible, and was there the entire time -- to be seen by any driver that actually, carefully looked for it.  The trucking company hired an expensive expert to give the opinion that our driver must have been speeding (even though there was no evidence of this), and that speeding was the reason our client "came out of nowhere."

Despite the ridiculousness of the trucking companies position, and inability to explain how the truck driver NEVER saw our client, an Orange County jury actually found that the truck driver was not negligent in any fashion.  Our client received nothing in the way of compensation, and the truck driver never faced any responsiblity for contributing to the crash in any way.

As an Orlando accident attorney who handles his share of Clermont auto accidents, I sincerely hope that the family of the Lake County man involved in this Highway 27 accident does not share the same fate.  I hope that the jury will be able to see through the defense that the trucking company may choose to employ in order to escape responsibility for killing a man.

If you have any questions about a Florida automobile accident, please call Orlando personal injury lawyer Kim Michael Cullen at 407-254-4901