Pedestrian Wrongful Death Accident With Box Truck On Combee Road

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The Ledger reported that a box truck truck a pedestrian on North Combee Road in Lakeland, Florida at approximately 3:23 a.m. on July 27, 2018. The pedestrian was identified as a male in dark clothing who was standing near the center of the road. The truck driver, John Bland, claims that he did not see the pedestrian before the impact. The pedestrian died as a result of the collision.

Crossing The Road As A Pedestrian Is Often Dangerous

Roads in Polk County, Florida are not well suited toward pedestrians. As a rural or suburban area, pedestrian safety (such as crosswalks and signal lights) are few and far between. Regardless, people still have to cross the road on occasion and they just have to be careful in doing so.

The theory of negligence behind this case is going to be that the pedestrian was crossing the road and that the box truck driver should have (if he was paying proper attention to the roadway) been able to avoid striking the pedestrian. Because the driver of the box truck claims that he did not see the pedestrian prior to impact, it will be impossible for the insurance company for the box truck to blame this accident on the pedestrian by saying that the pedestrian improperly entered the roadway (i.e. suddenly ran out into the road).

Therefore, this claim should be properly payable to the family of the deceased as a wrongful death case in Florida. Further, depending on whether the pedestrian was covered under an automobile insurance policy of his own, there should be a $5,000 death benefit paid by either his insurance company or the insurance company for the box truck. This money is intended to go toward burial expenses and is paid regardless of fault.

In this case, the plaintiffs should be able to sue the truck driver, whoever employed the truck driver, the truck driver’s employer, and possibly other parties under Florida’s “dangerous instrumentality” doctrine. To find out, a thorough investigation should be performed by legal counsel to examine the interplay of the different insurance policies and involvement of different parties to the case.