PHOENIX — It has been nearly a week since a semi-truck crash on the I-10 and Chandler Boulevard claimed the lives of five people.
The exact cause of that crash remains under investigation, but authorities said distracted driving was a factor.
As the families plan funerals and memorials for their loved ones, they will also face a lot of financial burdens. However, just because a truck driver or company may be found at fault, it doesn’t mean windfalls of insurance payments are headed to the families.
John, who did not want to give his last name for fear of violating a legal settlement, said his family lived through a similar wreck 23 years ago in North Carolina.
"It's all coming back," John said.
Accident reports from the crash involving John's family said a semi-truck was speeding down a local highway. According to the reports, the truck driver was not paying attention and plowed into the back of multiple vehicles that had slowed down while driving through a construction zone.
The crash killed five people. John's family miraculously survived, but with some serious injuries.
“My stepfather broke all the bones in his face, bruised his heart, bruised his ribs, had third-degree burns on 27% of his body,” John said, "My mom looked like she was beaten with a baseball bat."
But for the family, the crash and recovery were only the beginning of a five-year drawn-out legal process to collect a settlement from the trucking company.
“They will beat you down as far as they can,” John said. “They will drag this out as long as they can until you are just tired.”
Attorney Michael Medina, with the Davis Miles Law Firm, said it is a typical strategy used by trucking companies during legal battles. After all, they have more resources than the average person.
“Time is on their side,” Medina said.
Medina said companies would also try to use depositions to lower the potential payout. That could force family members to answer tough questions about recently lost loved ones.
“They try to play down the type of family person the driver may have been or the decedent, all to lessen what they have to pay,” Medina said.
John is legally not allowed to reveal the dollar amount his family settled for, but said at the end of the five years, his family was ready for the ordeal to be over.
“You look at it as your loved one is gone, money is not going to bring it back, money is not going to heal this, there is no win-win this, everyone loses,” John said. "It’s not a windfall. I can tell everyone it is not a windfall."
Since the crash in North Carolina, John has created his own company to aid others in his family's situation navigate the process.
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