Articles

THE LOUISVILLE COURIER-JOURNAL

Jury awards crash victim $27 million

The decision is one of the state's largest

Sunday, December 8, 2002

By Al Cross

A Warren Circuit Court jury said Friday night that a trash-collection company and one of its drivers should pay more than $27 million to a woman whose car slammed into a company truck parked on the wrong side of a narrow road near the crest of a hill, her attorney said last night.

The jury returned the verdict against Monarch Environmental Inc. and driver Jackie Jones in favor of Shannon Houchin, 19, of Smiths Grove, said one of her lawyers, Tyler Thompson of Louisville.

The verdict appeared to be one of the largest ever in Kentucky.  Thompson said it reflected the extent of Houchin’s brain injuries and her need for care for the rest of her life.

Thompson said Houchin was 17 and on her way to work at McDonald’s in Smiths Grove on Thanksgiving Day 2000 when she topped the hill on Girkin Road near Bowling Green and saw the truck, 158 feet from the crest of the hill, facing her in her lane.

He said she tried to pass the truck on the left, but saw a Monarch employee there, so she swerved hard right, braked and hit the truck with the driver’s side of her 1988 Honda.

Attorneys for Monarch and Jones could not be reached for comment last night.  Thompson said they unsuccessfully tried to show that Houchin had time to avoid the accident.  He said evidence showed that she was driving less than the road’s 55 mph speed limit.

Thompson said a woman living near the scene testified at the seven-day trial that company trucks repeatedly stopped in the same location despite her warnings to the company.

Another woman testified that she came close to having a similar wreck a week before Houchin’s and called the company about it, Thompson said, and the company employee who took the call testified he told drivers via radio not to stop in that location.

Thompson said physicians testified that Houchin will need permanent care and likely will not be able to work again.  He said she faces another two years of rehabilitation at a special facility in another state.

Thompson said the verdict was $1,344,601 for loss of income now and in the future, $11,175,000 for pain, suffering and mental anguish, $472,869 for medical expenses to date, and $14,343,197 for anticipated medical expenses and increased risk of complications.