Crash leads to lawsuit

By J.R. Williams - jrwilliams@nvdaily.com

WINCHESTER -- A California woman has filed a $2 million lawsuit in Frederick County Circuit Court over a 2008 car crash she says left her seriously injured.

Rose Livesay, represented by Winchester attorney Robert B. Guntharp, filed the suit May 14.

According to the suit, Livesay was parked the afternoon of May 18 at the Flying J Travel Plaza, at 1530 Rest Church Road in Clear Brook.

The complaint names Phillip Johnson, identified as then an employee of Olathe, Kan.-based TransAm Trucking, as a defendant. It alleges that Johnson crashed into Livesay in the Flying J parking lot, causing Livesay to suffer serious injury.

She is seeking $2 million for those injuries, the complaint states.

"The negligence of the part of the defendant Phillip Johnson constituted a proximate cause of the collision, the damages and the severe and permanent injuries suffered by [the] plaintiff Rose Livesay," it states.

The injuries have prevented Livesay "from transacting her business and her household duties" and "deprived [her] of earnings and earning capacity," the complaint states.

Both the trucking company and Johnson are named as defendants.

The suit was filed four days before Virginia's two-year statute of limitations on personal injury cases would have expired. TransAm operates more than 1,200 tractors and more than 2,400 refrigerated trailers in the United States, according to the company's website.

The suit joins several others against trucking companies stemming from accidents in the region. Four lawsuits recently were filed against Spartan Logistics LLC and the driver of a tractor-trailer involved in a 2008 crash on Interstate 81 that left three people dead. Combined, those suits seek $17.4 million.

Jessica Knowles, of Central Marichesny, N.Y., filed suit in U.S. District Court against Crete Carrier Corp. and a Lovettsville woman regarding a 2007 crash that reportedly left her injured.

Knowles alleges Caroline E. Furnari swerved when a Crete tractor-trailer abruptly changed lanes, causing her to hit Knowles, who was standing outside her car on the shoulder of Interstate 81 south of Winchester.

Knowles is seeking $1.5 million for her injuries. Crete has denied all liability.

A jury trial has been set for Nov. 15-17 in Harrisonburg in that case.