Who is at fault for this Florida Car Accident? July 28, 2009

A factually interesting case was recently decided in Florida involving a back up on I-75.     There was a truck accident on southbound I-75 that caused the southbound lanes to back up.  Around an hour after the wreck, about a mile away from the original accident a flat bed truck slowed down as he approached the accident using his gears to downshift instead of using the brakes on the truck.   Because he uesd the gears there were no brake lights.    A driver driving a car came over the hill and slams into the back of the nearly stopped truck and instantly died.  

The deceased man’s family brought a lawsuit to determine who was at fault for causing his death.   Was it the person who caused the original crash which caused the back up?  Was it the truck driver who slowed down without using brake lights?   Was it the deceased driver himself for not recognizing the stopped traffic in time?  

The trial court decided that the person causing the original crash could not be responsible for the subsequent death.  The court reasoned that the separation of time and distance were substantial enough to relieve the person who caused the original crash from liability.   Upon appeal of that decision,  the appellate court reversed the trial courts decision stating that a question of fact for the jury existed  as to whether the original crash and subsequent pile up on the interstate caused the drivers death.  The court reminded that large separations of time and distance are not enough standing alone to completely relieve the original driver for liability. 

Therefore, the case is back at the trial level and this Daytona Beach Personal Injury Attorney is curious to see how the jury decides.