Lack of Side Underride Protection Costs Lufkin

Parents of a teenage driver killed when his car went under the side of a semitrailer were awarded $400,000 by a Texas jury, which found the manufacturer negligent for not having side underride guards on its trailer.

“Hopefully, this message will get out to trailer manufacturers and to Congress to make the side guards mandatory,” said attorney Oscar Gomez, who represented Augustin and Santos Maravilla against Lufkin Industries (LUFK). Their son, Ricardo, 19, was crushed to death Sept. 16, 1997, when the Ford Taurus he was driving became trapped under a trailer on U.S. 59 near Laredo.

Gomez said Nov. 13 that the company settled with the family following the Oct. 25 jury verdict in the 111th District Court in Webb County, Texas.

Gomez said the settlement was not as large as ordered in some wrongful death lawsuits, perhaps because the federal government does not require trailer manufacturers to install the underride guards on the side, but only on the rear.

For the full story, see the Nov. 20 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.