DALLAS (TIP): A Dallas County jury this week awarded $44 million in damages to the family of a man killed when his truck was rear-ended by an 18-wheeler during the 2021 winter ice storm that devastated the entire state, according to a report in The Dallas Morning News. The jury ordered Missouri-based trucking company New Prime Inc. to pay $24.1 million in compensatory damages and $20 million in punitive damages for the Feb. 11, 2021, death of Christopher Ray Vardy, according to a statement provided by the family’s attorney, Frank L. Branson. The verdict came at the end of a two-week trial in the 44th District Court, according to a spokesman for Branson.
Vardy, 49, of Boyd, was stopped on the southbound side of the TEXpress section of Interstate 35 that morning due to other crashes in front of him, the statement said.
The jury determined that a semi-truck being operated by a New Prime driver was traveling too fast under the weather conditions when it slammed into the back of Vardy’s truck, the statement said.
“Evidence presented during the trial showed that trucking operator New Prime Inc.’s driver, Steven Ridder, did not receive adequate winter weather driving training and failed to exercise extreme caution in hazardous weather,” Branson said in the statement. “Trucking companies have the obligation to make sure their big rigs are being operated safely, which means taking extra precautions during extreme weather conditions, given the enormous size and weight of these vehicles.”
(Source: The Dallas Morning News)
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