Almost $80 million in lawsuits have been settled by the families of the victims of a deadly truck crash that took away the lives of five nursing students and injured two. On April 22, 2015, the students were on their way to a Savannah hospital where they were supposed to have final clinicals when they got into a crash on I-16 involving several vehicles.
Abbie Deloach, 20, Morgan Bass, 20, Emily Clark, 20, Caitlyn Baggett, 21 and Catherine McKay Pittman, 21, were all killed. Two other students survived but were injured. On April 29, 2015, Abbie Deloach’s mother, Kim Deloach McQuaig, filed the wrongful death civil suit against the truck driver’s company, Total Transportation, and their insurers. She claimed the crash had been their fault because driver was driving too fast for conditions and following too closely.
According to the investigators, John Wayne Johnson, 55, who was driving the tractor-trailer, started a chain-reaction wreck when he crashed into the back of an SUV.
Morgan Pass’ parents and Catherine McKay Pittsman’s family both secured settlements of $14 million each. Bettany McDaniel who survived the crash got a $5 million settlement secured on her behalf. Attorney Joe Fried says that even though the numbers are big, the money will not change anything for people who are going through so much pain because of their loss.
It’s important to be a safe driver no matter what type of vehicle you are in. It’s sad that five young women were killed and their lives were cut short.
This is a tragic story about safety and heavy machinery gone wrong.