Trucking company in 144 vehicle pile up asking for reversal of $44.1M lawsuit judgement against them

A trucking company involved in a 144 vehicle pile up years ago is asking for the reversal of a $44.1M lawsuit judgement against them. 

The February 2021 pile up crash happened on I-35 in Dallas County, Texas during a historic ice storm that ravaged the state. Motorist Christopher Vardy was killed in one of the 133 accidents reported on that stretch of I-35 when truck driver Steven Ridder crashed into the back of his vehicle as he was stopped in pile-up traffic. 

On December 12th, a judge awarded Vardy’s family $44.1 million in damages against New Prime Inc. The total includes $24.1 million in compensatory damages and $20 million in punitive damages due to “gross negligence.” 

According to Law360, on December 16th, New Prime filed a motion for a take-nothing judgement, citing the family’s settlements from other defendants. The amount of these prior settlements has not been disclosed publicly, but has been shared with New Prime and the court. New Prime says the prior settlements are larger than the $24.1 million in compensatory damages, and should eliminate the most recent judgement against the trucking company.  

The trucking company also argues that, because the jury “unambiguously and unanimously” determined that Ridder was not grossly negligent prior to the fatal crash, and because there is no evidence of him being a reckless or incompetent driver, there is no reason for the $20 million in exemplary damages. 

The company also argued that Texas law caps exemplary damages at $750,000 or double the compensatory damages – whichever is the lower amount – and prior settlements by the family have already reached this legal cap. 

Both New Prime and the Vardy family have yet to issue additional comments regarding the take-nothing reversal request.