Vol. 56 No. 1

Trial Magazine

Verdicts & Settlements: Motor Vehicle Liability

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Failure to inspect tire installation at trade school

January 2020

As Doe, 26, drove on a highway, a wheel detached from a truck driven by  a trade school student on the opposite side of the road. The wheel crashed through Doe’s windshield, killing him. He is survived by his parents.

Doe’s parents sued the trade school and the truck’s driver, alleging that the driver and her classmate had improperly secured the wheel to the truck—which belonged to the driver but was used at the trade school—four days before the incident and that the students’ work had been unsupervised and uninspected. The plaintiffs also claimed that the torque wrench used to perform the work had not been properly calibrated and that the wheel had been under torqued before its separation. Moreover, the plaintiffs argued that the school failed to establish adequate procedures to ensure the safety of its students and other motorists. Suit did not claim lost income.

The trade school countered that the driver had mastered the skill of removing and reinstalling a tire and that industry standards did not require inspection of every screw and bolt during the exercise.

The parties settled for approximately $4.02 million.

Citation: Doe v. Roe Trade Sch., Confidential Dkt. No. (Confidential Jurisdiction and Ct. January 2019).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ member Marianne C. LeBlanc, Boston.