Family of day care van driver killed in DWI wreck settles suit for $5.85M.

Byline: Bill Cresenzo

The family of a woman who died after her vehicle was hit by an impaired driver has confidentially settled a lawsuit against the at-fault driver and his employer for $5.85 million, the family's attorneys report. The settlement is believed to be the largest individual settlement ever negotiated in Johnston County.

Robert Lucas and Sarah Ellerbe of Lucas, Denning and Ellerbe in Selma said that Martha Peterson was transporting five children in a day care van in Clayton in November 2018 when the impaired driver crossed the center line, hitting the van head-on and killing Peterson almost instantly. None of the children was seriously injured.

The impaired driver worked for a plumbing company, and at the time of the wreck he was driving home in a company truck after finishing a shift with a coworker. Cameras in the truck documented everything that happened after the driver dropped off his coworker and leading up to the collision. Videos showed that the driver had methadone in the truck and had been asleep in the passenger seat just before getting behind the wheel, the attorneys said. He drove about four and half miles before hitting Peterson, during which time he crossed the centerline 27 times and narrowly averted a collision on nine occasions.

The attorneys said that the driver would show up to work showing signs of impairment "more than 50 percent of the time" according to one witness, and other witnesses testified that he would regularly fall asleep during company meetings, slur his speech, and stumble around. The witnesses said that it was common knowledge at the company that the driver had a drug problem, and the owner had been told that if the company continued to allow him to drive, "he was going to kill someone one day."

Peterson's family sued the driver for negligence and punitive damages and sued his employer for negligent entrustment and punitive damages, contending that the employer had allowed him to drive despite his having had nine prior at-fault automobile accidents, three prior accidents in the company truck, and 15 prior driving convictions. No drug tests had been administered after any of the accidents, violating company policy.

The...