By Jim Messer, Partner

It has happened to all of us. Traveling down the highway we glance in the rear-view mirror and immediately feel panic at the sight of an 18-wheeler bearing down from behind. The truck always swerves around at the last minute and barrels past. But what if it didn't?

Every year, Fonvielle Lewis Foote & Messer handles numerous cases in which large trucks or tractor-trailers are responsible for causing accidents that end up damaging the lives of our clients or even costing the life of a loved one. The damages in these cases are substantial, so trucking companies and their insurers do not hesitate to spend thousands and thousands of dollars to defend the actions of their company or their employees.

In years past, these cases involved poorly maintained trucks. But as the economy boomed in recent years, companies upgraded their fleets. A more insidious and much more dangerous problem now rules the highways - overworked, tired drivers.

The Case of A.I. and the Estate of H.M.

It was a beautiful, sunny April morning in 2000 when A.I. left her home on the way to work as a private nanny. Carefully placed in a child seat in the back seat of her car was her 2-year-old son, H.M.

A.I. merged onto Interstate 10 near Tallahassee in a highway construction zone. Approximately one-half mile after merging, traffic slowed nearly to a stop and then began to accelerate. It would be the last clear memory A.I. would have for months. She never saw the Peterbilt diesel tractor bearing down on her at an estimated 70 to 80 m.p.h. A.I. still can't remember the crash.

Some 18 hours earlier, truck driver L.C. left Pensacola riding in a Pensacola Auto Transport (P.A.T.) truck en route to Tampa, Florida. P.A.T. had agreed to purchase a new truck for its fleet from Peterbilt of Central Florida, a Tampa dealership. L.C., employed by Rig'gs, Inc., a truck broker in Pensacola, was to drive the truck from Tampa to A-Reliable Paint Shop in Pensacola for customization. After the custom work, the truck was destined for P.A.T. Because each corporation arguably had the right to control the truck, and therefore each was arguably liable for the vehicle, none would take responsibility for the daisy chain of possession.

Having left Pensacola at approximately 3:00 p.m., L.C. arrived in Tampa the following morning at 2:00 a.m. and immediately left to return to Pensacola. He never slept, although his logbook, required by federal law, showed him in the sleeper berth for the entire trip to Tampa. The Florida Department of Transportation found that he, like many drivers, had a pattern of falsifying his logbook time sheets "to conceal hours of service violations." In what is a widespread trucking practice, he kept two sets of logbooks, commonly called "comic books," to hide the fact he was violating Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. At the time he crashed into A.I.'s car, he had been awake all night and most of the day before. In the days before the ill-fated trip, he had likewise falsified his logbooks. On that clear morning, with over a mile of unobstructed visibility, the driver, his mind obscured by the fog of fatigue, never applied the brakes before impact.

The crash rendered A.I.'s automobile unrecognizable. Her car was thrown into a Ford F-250 heavy-duty pickup truck, totaling that vehicle. It took the Peterbilt truck 550 feet to stop after the impact. A.I. had to be cut out of her car. It was a miracle that she survived, but the miracle came with a high price - her two-year-old son was killed in the impact. She was rushed to a hospital with life-threatening injuries and placed in intensive care. Her injuries were so severe she was not even able to attend her son's funeral.

While A.I. began her long recovery, FLF&M immediately began the careful investigation that serious crashes require. Engineers were dispatched to survey and photograph the accident scene. Experts in sleep deprivation, road construction zone safety, psychology, psychiatry, neurology, orthopedics, vocational rehabilitation, economics and motor carrier compliance were retained. Obviously A.I. did nothing wrong. Even though she was hit from behind and seriously injured, demands to the defendants' insurance companies fell on deaf ears. Incredibly, no one would take responsibility. Typical in such cases, the only way to help her was to file suit and begin the litigation process.

A.I. made tremendous strides and was released from the hospital after three weeks. Her brain injury was milder than feared, but she remained depressed over the loss of her son and continued to suffer the pain of permanent injuries. Her memory remained clouded. She returned to work for a short time, but in the end, she just couldn't do her job.

Two years after the accident, after dozens of depositions, hundreds of hours of research, investigation and work, and after it was learned that the owner of P.A.T. also owned half of Rig'gs, L.C.'s employer, five of the six defendants recognized the danger of a trial and settled. The final defendant refused. Trial was set in Leon County, Florida. The defendant asked that the trial be postponed, but the judge refused. In what has become increasingly common, on the eve of trial, P.A.T. was informed by its insurance company that no coverage existed for the crash. Two days into the six-day trial, the insurance carrier realized the danger of its strategy and settled. Now A.I. could put the nightmare behind her.

The 3.5 million dollar settlement will help rebuild her life but the loss of her son has left A.I. somber. After the trial ended, she asked if she could keep the poster-sized trial exhibit of a picture of her son on his second birthday. It hangs next to the front door of her new home. Haunted by that day, A.I. says, "I just wish I had left home a minute or two earlier or later that day. If I had, this never would have happened."

Something to keep in mind the next time you look into the rear-view mirror and see that 18-wheeler bearing down.