In March 2019, an 18-wheeler pulled across five lanes of traffic on Washington Street in Amarillo to pick up a load of groceries for delivery. It was early, still dark. The lane-crossing was a routine but dangerous maneuver for drivers of Panhandle Transportation Group, a subsidiary of a national grocery wholesaler. As the truck was blocking the lanes, 28-year-old Laura Almanza’s car struck the 18-wheeler. She died at the scene of the crash. According to a lawsuit filed by the family in a Potter County district court, the driver of the truck had been in multiple crashes leading up to the accident. The crash devastated Almanza’s 11-year-old twin girls, says her father, Aldo Almanza. “It’s rough on them that they don’t have their mother,” he says. “I mean, who doesn’t need their mother?”
Aldo Almanza filed a lawsuit against the truck driver and the company, Panhandle Transportation Group LLC, claiming it was negligent in its business practices. “Somebody needs to be held accountable,” he says. A trial is set for June 1.
But a bill before the state Legislature would make cases like Almanza’s harder to try in the future, along with making payouts so paltry that fewer lawyers would take cases in the first place, says Almanza’s attorney, Kevin Glasheen. The bill’s language would essentially shift liability from the company to drivers who may not have the financial means to fully compensate plaintiffs. It may also prevent certain information about a company’s past accident history from being introduced as evidence. So if jurors wanted to know whether a company required drivers to undergo safety training; do routine maintenance on its trucks; or if the company’s drivers have a habit of getting into wrecks, it could be inadmissable. The trucking industry says it needs more protection from lawsuits because of skyrocketing insurance premiums.
