On July 1st, a fatal crash took place on the Don Holt Bridge that saw the death of Will Ellis, a tow truck driver. The driver was killed in the crash and this has led to the filing of a wrongful death suit against two drivers, as well as the South Carolina Department of Transportation. The two drivers were named as Dale Phillips II and Peter Katzburg, hailing from Tennessee and Charleston respectively. Also seriously injured in the crash was Charleston County Sherriff Deputy Mike Costanzo.
The lawsuit has been put forward with the allegation that Katzburg’s vehicle was disabled on the right-hand shoulder of the Don Holt Bridge. Ellis pulled in behind in a red rollback tow truck, with warnings lights engaged. Costanzo then pulled in behind the tow truck shortly after, with his blue lights activated to indicate the need for assistance.
The court documentation alleges that Phillips, who was driving a Ford F-350, was towing a trailer on the right-hand lane when the truck slammed into the back of the police vehicle. This pushed it into both the officer and Ellis – the impact caused both men injury, but it also caused Ellis to fall over a short concrete wall. He fell over the bridge and lost his life both as a result of the collision injury and the impact of hitting the water.
The lawsuit claims that Katzburg was negligent and failed to exercise due care. It also claims that Phillips was negligent, failed to keep proper lookout, and was driving distracted. Katzburg was alleged to also be following too closely and thus would have violated the Motor Vehicle Act of the state. The suit also claims that he failed to comply with law in that significant speed reductions and lane changes to the land that isn’t adjacent to an emergency vehicle.
Overall, the suit states that the South Carolina Department of Transport is also negligent by “failing to engineer a forgiving quality to the shoulder of the roadway, failing to engineer signage to warn approaching traffic of stopped cars on the crest of the bridge, failing to engineer a side wall tall enough or with railings to prevent inadvertent or disabled pedestrians from falling over the side, and failing to engineer a fence or net to allow forgiveness to the inevitable and foreseeable circumstance of pedestrians who are forced over the short concrete side wall.”
The suit looks to seek actual, general, and punitive damages and is seeking a jury trial.
Citation
https://www.live5news.com/2020/08/13/wrongful-death-lawsuit-filed-july-don-holt-crash/
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