Trucking news and briefs for Friday, May 3, 2024:
A truck driver was ordered to pay out nearly $2 million after a court found him to be negligent in blowing his custom horn and damaging another man’s hearing.
According to the Mississippi Jury Verdict Reporter, truck driver Jerry Garland, an independent contractor, was working at a job site where asphalt was being laid on May 4, 2020. Robert Kelly, a commercial paver, was also working the job site for his employer, Adcamp.
The report stated that Garland came upon Kelly and his work and believed Kelly was blocking his path to exit the job site. Kelly, however, maintained there was enough space for Garland and other traffic to exit.
Garland laid on his custom train horn, reportedly a three-tubed trumpet manufactured by United Pacific, for approximately 10 seconds. “Kelly immediately had a sudden intense pain in his ears as well as drainage,” the report noted. Kelly began treatment the following day for ear pain and hearing loss, his hearing loss continued to worsen, “and he now suffers a serious and permanent hearing loss.”
Additionally, in an unrelated event, Kelly suffered a brain tumor that, after surgery, left him blind. The combination of the two events left him without two senses and likely requiring attendant care for the rest of his life. As a result, Kelly sought additional damages from Garland because the combination of the two injuries required more attendant care than if he had just had the brain tumor and resulting blindness.
In the lawsuit, Kelly alleged negligence by Garland for blowing the horn. An expert witness doctor testified that even one second of exposure to the horn, which reportedly emits a 145-decibel sound, would be enough to cause injury.
