In The News
Three Drivers, Five Companies Named in Nebraska Crash Lawsuit
A wrongful death suit has been filed by the parents of a couple killed in a chain-reaction crash in September in western Nebraska.
The suit names the three truck drivers involved in the crash as well as their employers. One of the three, 36-year-old Josef Slezak, is alleged to have driven into a group of vehicles stopped for previous crash on Interstate 80, about 40 miles from the Wyoming state line. The suit alleges Slezak, of River Grove, Ill., had been at the wheel three hours longer than permitted by HOS regulations, and failed to stop or slow down prior to the crash. Slezak, a citizen of the Czech Republic, faces four counts of manslaughter, four counts of vehicular homicide, and one count of vehicle homicide of an unborn child.
Slezak's employer, AKI Trucking Inc. of West Lafayette, Ind., is also named in the suit.
The couple, Christopher and Diana Schmidt, of Gaithersburg, Md., along with their two young children and unborn son, were in separate cars en route to California when they stopped on the highway for a previous crash. Authorities say Slezak's truck first struck Christopher Schmidt's car, which rammed his wife's car, slamming it into the rear of another stopped semi. The force of the collision caused both cars to explode, killing the family instantly.
Investigators say Slezak slammed into the back of Schmidt's car at 75 mph, without hitting his brakes.
A witness, William Wiener, the driver of the truck that Mrs. Schmidt's car was slammed under, said in an affidavit that there was lots of CB chatter about the first crash. Wiener said Slezak's did not appear to slow down before it struck the car, and an accident reconstructionist who examined the scene conclude the truck failed to slow before hitting Mr. Schmidt's car.
Other Parties Named
Also named in the suit is driver of a truck that appeared to have some brake problems and was trying to get off the traveled portion of the highway. Vladimir Zhukov, 66, of Oak Park, Ill., had managed to get his tractor off the highway but the trailer remained stalled in the right-hand lane.
The suit targets Zhukov for failing to move his disabled truck clear of the roadway, and his employers, Swift-Truck Lines Ltd., and MTR Express Inc., for failing to maintain the equipment.
The lawsuit also names Long Haul Trucking Inc., the employer of driver Keith Johnson who died when he struck the disabled truck; and North Metro Truck Leasing LLC, the owner of Johnson's truck. The suit alleges Johnson, 27, of Big Lake, Minn., failed to avoid the crash even though the emergency flashers on Zhukov's truck were operating at the time.
The parents of the deceased filed the wrongful death lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Nebraska on Monday.
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