Families of Georgia Southern Nursing Students Killed on April 22, 2015 Settle Lawsuits On Eve Of One Year Anniversary

    ATLANTA, GA, April 22, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- As the families of three young nursing students who perished in a horrible tractor-trailer collision prepare this Friday to mark the one year anniversary of the tragedy that took five lives and injured three others, attorneys representing the families announced that they have gotten answers for their clients who wanted to know why their promising daughters died.

Attorneys Robert D. Cheeley, Brandon L. Peak and David T. Rohwedder of Butler Wooten Cheeley & Peak LLP of Atlanta/Columbus, Georgia, acting as lead counsel, and Billy N. Jones of Jones Osteen Jones of Hinesville, Georgia, acting as local counsel, are pleased to announce that they have achieved "substantial" settlements for their clients whose daughters died in the April 22, 2015 collision on I-16 in Bryan County, Georgia caused when a Total Transportation of Mississippi tractor-trailer ran into the back of the young women's vehicles at 68 mph without ever hitting the brakes.

The three cases were filed to recover for the wrongful deaths of Caitlyn Nicole Baggett, age 21, daughter of Richard and Linda Baggett of Millen, Georgia; Emily Elizabeth Clark, age 20, daughter of Craig and Kathy Clark of Powder Springs, Georgia; and Abbie Lorene DeLoach, age 21, daughter of James M. DeLoach, Jr. and Kim DeLoach McQuaig of Savannah, Georgia. Ms. McQuaig is represented by attorneys Mark Tate and Jim Shipley of Tate Law Group in Savannah. All three women were nursing students at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia at the time of their deaths.

The DeLoach case was set for trial on April 18, 2016 in the State Court of Bryan County before the Honorable Jack Carney. The Clark and Baggett cases were to commence May 16, 2016 in Bryan County Superior Court before the Honorable Paul Rose.

In addition to Total Transportation of Mississippi (Total Transportation), the lawsuits named New Mountain Lake Holdings, LLC, the holding company of Total Transportation's parent company, US Xpress Enterprises (USX), US Xpress, Inc., US Xpress Leasing, Inc., and Mountain Lake Risk Retention Group, LLC, an insurer of the US Xpress companies, all of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and John Wayne Johnson, the driver.

The wreck occurred on I-16 EB at 5:55 a.m. on April 22, 2015 when the Total Transportation tractor-trailer driven by John Wayne Johnson plowed into the rear of Emily Clark's vehicle, which was last in a long line of traffic stopped as a result of a prior collision, and then into the rear of Abbie DeLoach's vehicle, which was just in front of Emily's vehicle. The seven nursing students from Georgia Southern University were on their way to clinical training at a Savannah
hospital when the collision occurred.

"We determined from the black box in Abbie's vehicle and the physical evidence at the scene that seconds before impact Abbie and Emily unfortunately saw the tractor-trailer barreling down on them from the rear and did everything in their power to get out of the way. They slammed on the gas and turned their vehicles to the right, but unfortunately did not have time to get completely off of the roadway prior to the collision. Abbie's actions and quick-thinking likely saved the lives of Brittney McDaniel and Megan Richards, who were passengers in her vehicle" said Peak.

"It was clear from the depositions of company employees that Total Transportation and its parent company, US Xpress, were negligent in many ways," added Cheeley. "The negligence of the companies is what led to the deaths of these aspiring young nurses."

Total Transportation's President and CEO John Stomps and Vice President of Safety and Recruiting Bob Viso admitted in sworn deposition testimony that Johnson, who did not meet Total Transportation's hiring criteria because he previously rolled a tractor trailer when he fell asleep while working for another company, should never have been hired and allowed behind the wheel of a Total Transportation tractor trailer, according to Cheeley.

"As a result of the defendants' decision to violate the hiring policy and put Johnson behind the wheel, our clients' children paid the ultimate price," added Rohwedder. "Not only did Johnson not meet the hiring requirements of the two companies, which is bad in and of itself, but then Total Transportation made matters worse by unnecessarily causing Johnson to wait at the terminal for approximately 10 hours before having his rig ready to roll. Instead of beginning the trip at 7 a.m. central time on April 21, 2015, Johnson, who had ridden a bus all night from Shreveport to Total Transportation's headquarters in Ridgeland, Mississippi, had to wait in the driver's lounge at the truck terminal until the truck was ready and did not get on the road until 5 p.m. central time. Without even asking Johnson if he was okay to drive and knowing he had previously crashed a truck during the early morning hours, Total Transportation assigned Johnson a load that required him to drive throughout the night to Savannah," observed Cheeley.

"Though he denies it, Johnson likely either fell asleep behind the wheel or was distracted by taking his eyes off the roadway, perhaps looking at his cellphone," according to Cheeley. "Johnson claimed he could not remember the four digit code to his iPhone, so we will never know if he was looking at something on the phone at the time of the wreck."

"The State Patrol did a very good job investigating this wreck and securing the evidence until we could have a chance to look at the wrecked vehicles with our experts," added Jones. "The black box data from the tractor-trailer, along with the absence of tire marks on the road, proved that Johnson never applied his brakes before the collision."

The tractor-trailer was not equipped with a video camera or a collision avoidance system that applied the brakes when a vehicle was stopped in front of it. "In light of this epic tragedy and the national attention which it has generated, we truly hope that these defendants, and all trucking companies nationwide, will take immediate steps to ensure that professional drivers are not 'DWD', driving while distracted. If school systems across the country have cameras focused on the driver of school buses to hold those drivers accountable, then surely large trucking companies should do no less to protect their own drivers and the motoring public. We believe when the truck driver knows his employer can watch his actions, he will likely avoid engaging in conduct which takes his eyes off the road," remarked Cheeley.

The lawyers for the three plaintiffs conducted over a dozen depositions before reaching settlements of the three clients' cases.

"Our clients wanted answers about why their daughters were killed so that they could hopefully prevent any other families from having to experience the heartache they have endured and continued to endure. These families showed incredible courage and perseverance throughout this very difficult process, including attending the depositions of the trucking companies' employees and CEO to hear the evidence for themselves. There is no perfect ending in a case like this, but we are confident the actions these families took to shine a light on the senseless decisions that took the lives of their daughters will save other lives in the future. In that respect, they have accomplished their goals of honoring their daughters' lives," noted Peak.

"By these large settlements, it is our sincere hope that Total Transportation and US Xpress will never again jeopardize the lives of the motoring public by hiring drivers who have been fired by other companies for unsafe driving practices," said Rohwedder.

Cheeley, emphasizing a stark but truly sad reality, pointed out that "the tractor trailer was hauling paper products to a Dollar General store in Savannah. We are confident that Total Transportation and US Xpress would not have entrusted a driver with Johnson's driving history to haul priceless art to Savannah, especially without being well-rested. Why then would these companies put the public, and these priceless young women's lives in particular, at risk? It just makes no sense at all."

"On behalf of all the families who lost a daughter in this terrible tragedy, we want to thank the Georgia Southern family, and indeed the good people of Georgia, who have demonstrated a tremendous expression of love, prayers and support over the last year. We hope that this will bring closure to their great loss" said Cheeley.

Notice of Press Conference: The families and their attorneys in four of the five wrongful death cases who have settled will hold a press conference on Thursday, April 21 at 11 o'clock a.m. ET in front of the School of Nursing at Georgia Southern University, which is located at 250 Forest Drive, Statesboro, GA 30460, to announce resolution of the cases.

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