Monday, March 19, 2001 

The National Law Journal 

Texas jury awards $18M in highway fatality

CASE TYPE:  negligence, gross negligence, wrongful death 

CASE:  Angie Flores v. Castaneda; No. CA99-CI-10812SE (Bexar Co., Texas, Dist. Ct.) 

PLAINTIFF’S ATTORNEY:  Daniel J.T. Sciano of San Antonio, Texas’ Tinsman & Houser, Inc.; Scott M. Bage of San Antonio’s Bustamante & Bage; and David McQuade Leibowitz of San Antonio’s David McQuade Leibowitz 

DEFENSE ATTORNEYS:  Wayne B. Mason, D. Randall Montgomery and Jeff Rose of Dallas and Austin, Texas’ Strasburger & Price; and Gary W. Mayton and Joe McClellan of San Antonio’s Kelly O’Connor Law Offices 

JURY VERDICT:  $18 million 

At 2:30 a.m. on August 1, 1997, a tractor-trailer owned by Contract Freighter, Inc. (CFI) and operated by Charles Edward Jones was parked in the emergency lane of a highway approximately 900 feet beyond a rest area near Natalia, Texas. 

JoAnn M. Castaneda, driving her 1990 Toyota Celica, was southbound on the highway.  Her best friend, Rebecca Lugo, then 31, was asleep in the right passenger seat.  Ms. Castaneda, who had been awake for about 20 hours, admitted to drinking two whiskey sours at a nightclub over a five-hour period. 

She crashed her car into the rear of the parked tractor-trailer while traveling at a speed of 40 mph to 45 mph.  The right half of her automobile wedged under the rear of the trailer, killing Rebecca Lugo. 

The plaintiffs alleged that Mr. Jones had parked his truck in an emergency lane unnecessarily, creating a dangerous situation.  The plaintiffs relied on a known phenomenon in the trucking industry – which they allege contributed to the fatality – in which trucks parked at night appear to be moving when, in fact, they are not.  The plaintiffs also alleged that CFI management was aware of the phenomenon but did not train its truckers about it. 

Mr. Jones said that he was sleeping at the time of the collision and that he was parked in the emergency lane because the rest area was full.  He admitted that he knew parking in the emergency lane was risky.  Mr. Jones also admitted that he missed 84 driver safety meetings and that he had falsified time logs on his prior trip to San Antonio, in violation of federal motor carrier regulations. 

The plaintiffs raised the issue of the truck’s highway master system and global positioning system, which recorded data that, the plaintiffs alleged, would have confirmed that the truck was parked in the emergency lane; one year and two months after the accident, however, CFI destroyed the data.  CFI responded that that plaintiffs had never requested the data and that Mr. Jones had already admitted that he was parked in the emergency lane for one hour. 

CFI and Mr. Jones denied liability and contended that the collision was solely caused by Ms. Castaneda, who allegedly had failed to stay in her lane, had been drinking alcohol and had fallen asleep at the wheel.  Ms. Castaneda testified that she saw the large truck and did not recognize it as a hazard.  Ms. Castaneda did tell a State Department of Public Safety trooper that she had blinked and fallen asleep at the wheel.  The trooper found no fault on the part of CFI’s driver. 

The jury found CFI 50% negligent, Mr. Jones 40% negligent and Ms. Castaneda 10% negligent.