Following up on the story Jason Barney wrote about Oct. 25: a Seattle jury has awarded $15 million to the woman gravely injured when an improperly secured entertainment center fell off a rented U-Haul trailer and through her windshield. “U-Haul was ordered to pay 67 percent of the total amount and the balance is to be paid by James Hefley, the man who rented the U-Haul trailer. Jurors did not find the company that rented the trailer to Hefley or Federici liable. … Federici’s attorneys argued that U-Haul knowingly rented a poorly designed trailer that in which loads could not be secured. They said that the trailer could have been made safer with a cargo net or higher tailgates and that U-Haul knew there had a been a number of similar incidents.” (Christine Clarridge, “Woman hit by unsecured load awarded $15 million”, Seattle Times, Nov. 9).
Federici v. U-Haul update: jury awards $15 million
Following up on the story Jason Barney wrote about Oct. 25: a Seattle jury has awarded $15 million to the woman gravely injured when an improperly secured entertainment center fell off a rented U-Haul trailer and through her windshield. “U-Haul was ordered to pay 67 percent of the total amount and the balance is to […]
4 Comments
But U-Haul already does make a safer device where loads can be secures against such an incident. It’s called a cargo truck. They rent them every day. Now Hefley didn’t rent such a device…
Of course, the cargo truck rents for much more than any trailer, and there are items that are much easier to load into an open-top trailer or truck.
GAWD forbid Polaris would get sued for something I was too farkin stupid to do to protect not only MY property but the safety of others on the road!
As I see this case, the two parties responsible seemingly got off scott free, while the the one that manufactured and provided the trailer got screwed!
The persons that actually loaded the trailer should be first in line! The rental company should be second, and after that the tail gater is in line for following too close. Well if the suit was valid in the first place, which is was not!
I know Mr. Hefley and he actually did attempt to rent an enclosed trailer but the store he rented it from would not give him an enclosed trailer telling him they were for out of state moves only and he did secure the load with cords and did drive in the slow lane with his hazards on but there were not enough tie down areas on the trailer they gave him