An attorney representing the mother of one of five Georgia Southern University nursing students killed Wednesday in a seven-vehicle crash on Interstate 16 said he has previously sued the trucking company whose driver is responsible for the crash.
Joseph A. Fried, of Fried, Rogers, Goldberg LLC of Atlanta, is representing Mary Helen Mehaffrey, the mother of Morgan Bass, of Leesburg, who was killed in the accident along with four others.
Fried said in a statement released Friday that he is "quite familiar with the safety history of Total Transportation of Mississippi," which owns the tractor-trailer driven by John Wayne Johnson, 55, of Shreveport, Louisiana.
Georgia State Patrol Trooper Colin Wheeler said Johnson failed to stop in time and crashed into traffic that was at a standstill because of a wreck that occurred earlier that morning. Charges have not been filed, and the GSP Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team is investigating the accident.
Fried said the trucking company's record "shows a systemic history of unsafe driving."
Also killed in the crash were Emily Clark, of Powder Springs; Abbie Deloach, of Savannah; Catherine McKay Pittman, of Alpharetta; and Caitlyn Baggett, of Millen. All five were juniors at Georgia Southern and were commuting to St. Joseph's Hospital in Savannah for their last day of clinical training of the school year.
Injured but surviving the crash are two other GSU nursing students: Megan Richards, a junior from Loganville, and Brittany McDaniel, a junior from Reidsville. A third injured survivor is Greg Johnson, 53, of Pembroke. All three are in stable condition. Johnson was treated and released, while the other students remain in the hospital.
In a move also prompted by Wednesday's wreck, the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association partnered with Road Safe America in urging Congress and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to "immediately require the installation and use of forward collision avoidance and mitigation technology on all tractor trailers," said Chris Kelleher, media spokesman for the GTLA group.
The technology works by taking over the brakes and engine of the tractor-trailer when an imminent collision is anticipated and alerts the driver to the danger, he said.
It "is already fully-developed and comes as a standard feature on most new automobiles. It is estimated that it would cost less than $500 per vehicle to retrofit current tractor-trailers to meet this standard," Kelleher said.
"The tragic loss of Georgia lives on Interstate 16 this week is a stark reminder of the dangers that tractor-trailers pose to all other drivers on Georgia highways," said Brian D. "Buck" Rogers, a member of the GTLA executive committee and Road Safe America's board of directors. "I am confident that this action would be among the most significant safety improvements to our highways in American history."
Holli Deal Saxon may be reached at (912) 489-9414.