Boy Awarded $65M After Excavator Crashes Into Bridge, Kills His Mom
The driver hauling the excavator had just gotten his CDL four days earlier and had not properly loaded the machine onto the trailer...
machineryasia A towing company and its driver have been hit with a $65 million wrongful death verdict after a hauled excavator crashed into a bridge in 2022 in Colorado and killed a single mom driving an SUV.
It marks the largest jury award for a trucking crash in the state’s history, according to Dulin McQuinn Young, the law firm represented the plaintiffs.
The tractor-trailer driver, who had just gotten his CDL four days before, was hauling an excavator at 6 p.m. August 8, 2022, when it struck a bridge over I-25 northbound near Mead.
The excavator’s arm was extended above the height limit for the Weld County Road 34 bridge. When it struck the bridge, it caused a large piece of concrete to smash through the windshield of an SUV behind the tractor trailer traveling in the same direction on I-25. Megan Arneson, 32, who was driving the SUV, was struck in the head by the piece of concrete.
Arneson was with her 10-year-old son, returning home from a day at Water World water park. The boy tried to call for help for his mother. She died at the scene.
Darnell Yingling pleaded guilty in 2023 to vehicular homicide – reckless driving. Colorado State Patrol determined he had not properly loaded the excavator onto the trailer.
Arneson’s parents sued Yingling and his employer, Import Auto Inc., in 2022 for wrongful death on behalf of her son, who is now 14. The lawsuit alleged Yingling’s recklessness caused Arneson’s death and that Import Auto did not properly train Yingling and did not inspect the load before transport.
On September 21, after a five-day trial, a Larimer County District Court jury awarded Arneson’s son $65 million for wrongful death damages, according to Dulin McQuinn Young.
Arneson was a teacher and had recently been promoted to assistant director at Children’s Workshop before her death, according to her obituary.
“This jury’s verdict is a message to the trucking industry that Megan’s life mattered and that reckless conduct will not be tolerated in Colorado,” said attorney Kari Jones Dulin, lead counsel for the plaintiffs.
