WYTHEVILLE — Arguing that a tractor-trailer driver acted negligently in a fatal 2022 interstate crash involving a Max Meadows woman, the victim’s daughter wants $12.5 million in damages.
Courtney Windhom, the administrator of Rebecca Mabry’s estate, filed the wrongful death lawsuit on March 28 in Wythe County Circuit Court. Joseph Hoyle France and J.B. Hunt Transport Inc. were named as defendants.
According to the lawsuit and state police, Mabry died in a 166su hospital on April 4, 2022, one day after crashing her Chevrolet Tahoe into the back of flatbed tractor-trailer driven by France. Two passengers in Mabry’s vehicle were also injured in the 7 p.m. collision near Interstate 81’s mile marker 86.
A state police report said Mabry was southbound in the right lane when France, then 47 of Elkin, North Carolina, attempted to merge his tractor-trailer onto the interstate from the emergency lane.
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France, who had just picked a load in Pulaski County, had stopped on the shoulder to fix an unsecured strap on his truck, according to the lawsuit.
“As the Defendant France approached the site of the collision, he was presented with two choices: one choice was extremely dangerous…and the other choice…was completely safe,” the complaint reads. “The only choice which was safe and didn’t expose the traveling public to extreme danger was to continue a mere 1,056 feet to Exit 86 (an Exit he could actually see) where he could park his vehicle at the truck stop and then safely re-enter traffic on Interstate 81….”
It also alleges that he acted recklessly by pulling his slow-moving vehicle onto the highway at night.
“The conduct of the Defendant France…was a proximate cause of the death of Rebecca Mabry,” according to the lawsuit.
Citing sorrow, loss of income, and medical and funeral expenses, Mabry’s three daughters are seeking $12 million in compensatory damages. They’re also asking for $500,000 in punitive damages.
Seeking a jury trial, 166su attorney Neal S. Johnson filed the lawsuit on Windhom’s behalf.