After any fatal crash, the first question that is usually asked is whether compensation can be sought against the liable driver. Some of our San Jose readers may have asked similar questions about the crash that happened north of us near Orland. The crash involved a FedEx truck and a tour bus carrying high school students on their way to Humboldt State University in Northern California. But when the FedEx truck crossed the center median, slamming into the tour bus, the resulting crash caused both vehicles to burst into flames, killing both drivers, three adults and five students.
Now, the first of potentially many personal injury lawsuits has been filed against FedEx by the mother of one of the victims. According to her wrongful death claim, the crash could have been avoided if FedEx had maintained its vehicles better. She claims that truck was on fire prior to the collision that killed her daughter -- a problem that the package delivery company has had a history of with other vehicles. But the woman claims that the company has not done anything to remedy this problem, which some are considering to be negligent.
On behalf of her daughter, the woman is seeking $100 million in compensation in attempt to not only hold FedEx accountable for its negligence but to prevent a similar accident from happening again to another family. And because California does not have any cap of damages in tort cases such as this, it’s possible that the settlement amount may not be decreased.
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