Jury awards $8.6 million to Texas woman badly injured in truck crash

A Texas woman who was seriously hurt in a collision with an 18-wheeler will receive $8.6 million thanks to an Anderson County jury.  The accident happened in 2006 when the woman, Martha Michelle Gaines, then 19, was hit by a defective truck-tractor while driving her 2000 Buick Park Avenue.

The truck was being driven by Kenneth Lee Woodworth, 46, who ran a red light at the intersection of North Loop 256 and Sterne Avenue.  At the time of the crash, Woodworth did not have a driver’s license and the truck he was driving did not have brakes at the time of the crash.  Woodworth was hauling oilfield equipment when he hit Gaines.

After the accident Gaines was in a coma for over two months.  She suffered from serious head trauma and other injuries including broken ribs and a shattered pelvis.  It took her 14 months to recover from the accident, after time spent in hospitals, at the Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation in Dallas and elsewhere.

The lawsuit was filed against the driver of the truck and against his business associates Bennie Joe Adkinson – the truck’s owner – and Joseph P. Pritchett.  The lawyer for Gaines and her family argued that all three men were negligent for their actions related to the crash.

The jury was unanimous in their verdict.  However, highlighting the challenges inherent in securing justice after a serious truck accident, the defendants will likely appeal the decision to the 12^th Court of Appeals and perhaps even on to the Texas Supreme Court.