Dump truck driver goes free after fatal hit-and-run accident

On behalf of Rawson, Merrigan, & Litner, LLP Posted in Truck Accidents on 02/16/13

In Boston and the surrounding area, motor vehicle accident victims can find their lives permanently changed. When serious injuries or fatalities occur, these negative effects can spread to other family members. Truck accidents can be especially deadly, if only because of the extra weight carried by the large vehicle.

It is with this in mind that lawyers assert that the negligence of a dump truck driver may have played a role in the August 2012 death of a Massachusetts cyclist. The 41-year-old man was riding his bicycle on Weston Road in Wellesley when he was hit by the 18-wheel dump truck. He was pronounced dead a short while after the accident at a local hospital.

But a grand jury decided not to press charges against the truck driver. Evidence in the case included testimony given by the investigators involved in the case as well as witnesses to the accident. The truck driver continued to assert his innocence, claiming that he had not hit the cyclist with his vehicle at all.

The victim’s family filed a lawsuit that names the employer of the truck driver as well as the driver as responsible for the cyclist’s death. According to the lawsuit, the truck driver involved in the fatal incident has been charged with 26 moving violations since 1982. These apparently include numerous speeding citations and causing several accidents.

Though money cannot replace the presence and support of a loved one, financial compensation can offer family members the chance to take the time they need to begin to recover from the loss and hold negligent parties accountable when the criminal court will not.

Source (Previously Published Article): WCVB.com, “Family sues after no criminal charges to be filed in fatal Wellesley crash,” Feb. 4, 2013