The plaintiff, April Reid, wanted to visit relatives in Lansing on the evening of August 21, 2020. Reid’s 16-year-old son, Ahmir Walker, had his learner’s permit. She decided to let Walker drive to get his driving hours in. Reid had some alcohol to drink before they left the house.
Walker was driving a Jeep northbound I-69 with Reid in the right front passenger seat as Walker’s supervising driver, as required by law. Also northbound at this time on 1-69 was a fully loaded Quality Carrier’s tanker truck driven by Oleg Goray. Goray was driving in the right lane and was, at all times, driving well within the posted speed limit.
As Walker approached Goray’s tanker truck, Reid gave Walker the ill-advised instruction to pass the truck. From this point on, we have the advantage of video from Goray’s dash cam to show the rest of the story.
The video shows Walker speeding past Goray above the posted speed limit. In fact, Walker admitted he was driving over 80 mph when he started to lose control by going off the roadway. Reid admits that at no time did she ever tell Walker to slow down. Suddenly the steering wheel jerked to the right causing the Jeep to begin to fishtail. At the last moment, the Jeep crossed directly into Goray’s occupied right lane, leaving him nowhere to go.
The plaintiff claimed an additional version of the dashcam was available, containing more information that wasn't produced and could have been obtained and wasn't, entitling them to a 6.01 instruction. The defendants contended this information was not necessary given the 1:30 minute dashcam video that was produced. The 6.01 instruction was given.
Reid’s injuries did not require surgery. She did well on extensive testing designed to detect residual problems related to traumatic brain injury. She returned to working remotely for a year, but now claims she could not perform her job.
Russell W. Porritt, counsel for the defendant, provided case information.
Type of action: Trucking accident
Injuries alleged: TBI, multiple broken ribs and PTSD
Name of case: Reid v. Goray and Quality Carriers, Ahmir Walker
Court/Case no./Date: Kalamazoo Circuit Court; 21-0246-NF; 04/10/2024
Tried before: Jury
Name of judge: Hon. Curtis Bell
Name of mediator: Paul Knight
Demand: $990,000
Highest offer: $50,000
Verdict amount: $0 against Goray and Quality Carriers; $1,072,000 against Walker
Special damages: Over $1 million excess wage loss
Most helpful expert: Dr. Charles Funk, accident reconstruction, Novi
Insurance carrier: Self-insured
Attorneys for defendant: Russell W. Porritt II and Paula Stanowski, Bloomfield Twp
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