One young man died and two more were injured in a truck accident near Lynnwood early Sunday morning. Andrew R. Stahley, 22, died. Joshua Kevin Parker, 20, was treated at a nearby hospital and released. Johnny Lee Miler, 27, was transported to Harborview Medical Center.
According to the State Patrol, the truck left the roadway, hit the guardrail and flipped over. Two of the men, including Stahley, were not wearing seatbelts.
As previously mentioned, failure to wear a seatbelt does not preclude a personal injury claim. In fact, whether the injured person was wearing a seatbelt is not even admissible in evidence under a Washington statute. RCW 46.61.688 (6) provides as follows: “Failure to comply with the requirements of this section does not constitute negligence, nor may failure to wear a safety belt assembly be admissible as evidence of negligence in any civil action.”
The injured passengers likely have claims against the driver if the vehicle left the roadway. Based on the likelihood that the driver has insufficient insurance coverage and insufficient assets to compensate all of the passengers to the full extent of their injuries, each passenger should retain separate attorneys to ensure each of their interests is best represented.
For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Tractor-trailer accidents.
The Legal Examiner and our Affiliate Network strive to be the place you look to for news, context, and more, wherever your life intersects with the law.
Comments for this article are closed.