TERRI’S STORY

Bob Jensen proudly and ably served in the United States Army in Vietnam. In addition to being honorably discharged, he was a decorated soldier. Shortly after he left the Army, he met up with Terri who became his constant companion and the mother of his two children.

Bob and Terri loved to go riding on Bob’s motorcycle. One night, after attending a birthday party in Denver, Colorado, they got on the bike and headed towards Interstate 70 westbound so they could return to their home. What Bob and Terri did not know was that at the top of the on-ramp to the Interstate, in the dark, was a 76,000 pound piece of road equipment. An employee of the contractor that was in the process of resurfacing the highway had left the equipment there.

The resurfacing effort had shut down around midnight because the company had run out of asphalt. According to procedure, a “flagging” company hired specifically to provide warning lights, barricades, flagging and attendants was supposed to first close off the on-ramp so that no traffic could enter the highway at that location. Then, they were to safely and carefully escort the paving equipment off the road, down the on-ramp and ensure that the equipment was safely parked on the street.

Unfortunately, when the order was given to close the highway, a number of things went wrong. Instead of first closing off the on-ramp, the flagging company had guided one of the pieces of paving equipment to the side of the highway at the top of the on-ramp and left it there. The flagging crew then decided to go up to the next exit, turn around and come back to the on-ramp in order to close it. However, once that crew left, the operator of the road paver decided to back down the open on-ramp, without waiting. Although he was able to do so successfully, a second operator, with an even larger piece of highway equipment decided to do the same thing. The operator crossed the highway with his equipment and started backing down the on-ramp. He stopped near the top in order to lower a part of the equipment so it wouldn’t hit the low-hanging, overhead power lines. Unfortunately, he stopped where one of the street lights was out. From the bottom of the on-ramp, this 38-ton piece of equipment could not be seen.

Bob and Terri proceeded to drive up the on-ramp to a speed of about 45 miles an hour. In a matter of seconds, they hit the unseen 38-ton piece of paving equipment at high speed. Tragically, Bob was killed almost at impact. Terri received serious multiple injuries, including a head injury and fractures.

We helped Terri file suit against the highway resurfacing company, the flagging company and the operator of the equipment that was left on top of the on-ramp. We were able to get the operator to admit that he did not follow orders and had parked the vehicle at the top of the ramp, in a darkened area, knowing that the road was open and that traffic could collide with his vehicle. During his deposition, we successfully obtained an admission from the flagging company’s hired expert safety witness that had the company’s employees first shut the on-ramp before moving the vehicles (following proper procedure), the horrible collision would not have occurred. Fortunately, we also had an eyewitness who was right behind Bob and Terri’s motorcycle.

The attorneys at the Law Offices of Stuart A. Kritzer, P.C. litigated for nearly two years before the case was settled. The settlement paid off all of Terri’s substantial medical bills and left her with enough money for she and the remaining members of her family to live on comfortably for the rest of their lives.