The parents of a man who sustained fatal injuries in a collision with a tractor-trailer have been awarded $5.5 million compensation for the death of their son in a road traffic accident.
On 18 August 2008, Mark A McConnell II (22) was driving his car in Mahoning County in Ohio, when a tractor-trailer driven by Andrew Johnson ignored a stop-sign and flashing red lights, and pulled out of an intersection straight into McConnell´s path.
The two vehicles collided at right angles and the force of the impact sent McConnell´s car across the intersection, where the front driver´s side of the vehicle smashed into two utility poles. McConnell was cut from the wreckage of his car and airlifted to hospital, but went into cardiac arrest before the helicopter landed and could not be resuscitated.
After an investigation into the crash, McConnell´s parents – Mark Snr and Vickie McConnell – made a claim for compensation for the death of their son in a road traffic accident against Andrew Johnson and his joint employers – Guru Global Logistics LLC and Howard Truckline.
Howard Truckline settled the claim against them before the case went before Judge Dominick Motto at the Lawrence County High Court, but Andrew Johnson maintained that he was not at fault for the accident by arguing that McConnell was speeding, and Guru Logistics claimed that Johnson was not working for the company at the time.
However, after a lengthy trial, the jury found in favour of McConnell´s parents and awarded them $5.465 million compensation for the death of a son in a road traffic accident – $2.1 million for the loss of future earning capacity, $3 million for the parents loss of services, society and comfort, and the balance for their son´s conscious pain and suffering. Liability for damages was divided 70/30 between Global Logistics and Andrew Johnson.