Motorcyclist Killed He Hits Curb and is Run Over by Semi Truck
A motorcyclist was killed after his motorcycle struck the curb causing him to be ejected from his vehicle, and then he was struck by a tractor trailer on U.S. 90 in Florida, according to an article on News4Jax.com. Apparently, the accident was initiated when the motorcyclist, Kevin Daugherty, struck the curb and was separated from his motorcycle. However, as he lay in the roadway, a semi truck came along and ran over Mr. Daugherty.
This tragic accident raises an interesting question in terms of Mr. Daugherty's family's right to recover damages in a wrongful death lawsuit. When a person is involved in an accident that is his/her own fault, that person cannot recover for damages resulting from the crash. As a result, assuming the initial accident caused when Mr. Daugherty hit the curb was his fault, his family would not be able to recover damages resulting from that part of the accident. However, since there were technically two accidents in this case, the family may still have a right to recover damages. The real question is whether Mr. Daugherty died from the initial crash and ejection caused by him hitting the curb or the subsequent crash when he was run over by the semi truck.
Certainly, an argument can and should be made that the semi truck caused Mr. Daugherty's death. In a wrongful death lawsuit, experts hired by the wrongful death lawyer for the family would analyze the crash and Mr. Daugherty's injuries to determine if the semi truck was in fact the actual cause of his death. If that was the case, the semi truck driver and company that employs him/her would be liable for his death, if it is proven that the semi truck driver was negligent in failing to see Mr. Daugherty in the road and hitting him.
