Trucking Negligence Can Lead To Large Verdicts- New Mexico Case
- August 15th, 2016A Santa Fe jury has awarded what’s believed to be the largest verdict in New Mexico history to the family of a man killed three years ago when a semi truck slammed into his car near Carlsbad.
The jury early Wednesday afternoon awarded Kevin Udy’s wife and children $58.5 million in damages — $47 million of it in punitive damages.
By Tom Sharpe
The New Mexican
A Santa Fe jury has awarded what’s believed to be the largest verdict in New Mexico history to the family of a man killed three years ago when a semi truck slammed into his car near Carlsbad.
The jury early Wednesday afternoon awarded Kevin Udy’s wife and children $58.5 million in damages — $47 million of it in punitive damages.
Bill Robins, the lead trial attorney for Udy’s estate, said the punitive damages were assessed against Standard E&S, Zia Transport and Bergstein Enterprises because the jury agreed that the firms’ truck driver, Monte Lyons of Carlsbad, had been inadequately trained, and that the firms had a record of past safety violations. He said Bergstein Enterprises, the company responsible for the safety of the other firms, is run by Peter Bergstein of Lubbock, Texas.
Udy, a senior mechanical engineer for Intrepid Potash, was killed March 3, 2010, when his westbound pickup was hit by Lyons’ eastbound tanker trailer as it turned into the Standard E&S shop about three miles east of Carlsbad. Lyons “was hauling produced water from oil wells,” Robins said. “He just dropped off his last load and was coming back to the E&S shop and was turning into their driveway and cut right out in front of [Udy].”
The trial was held in Santa Fe because Santa Fe Trust, an independent trust company, was named as the personal representative of Udy’s estate for the wrongful-death lawsuit. Udy’s wife, Susan, has moved back to her home state of Utah, and their five children are scattered around the country, Robins said.
State District Judge Raymond Ortiz began jury selection March 11, and the jury began deliberations Tuesday.
The jury broke down the $11.5 million in actual damages, assessing Lyons 1 percent of the total, Standard E&S 20 percent, Zia Transport 9 percent and Bergstein Enterprises 70 percent. As for the $47 million in punitive damages, the jury assessed Standard E&S $28 million, Zia Transport $5 million and Bergstein Enterprises $14 million.