STOCKTON, Ill. – A Winnebago County jury awarded $67 million to the families of victims killed and injured in a 2018 crash involving a Panera Bread semi-truck in northwestern Illinois.
What we know:
The verdict, delivered Sept. 30, included $52 million for the family of Fred and Bob Krischon. Fred, 88, died in the crash, while his son Bob, 56, suffered serious injuries.
Another $15 million was awarded to the family of Ruthie Fairchild, who died days after the crash.
The backstory:
The crash happened on May 20, 2018, when the Panera Bread truck heading east collided with a westbound vehicle that Fairchild was a passenger in near the centerline on U.S. Route 20 in Stockton.
The impact forced the vehicle into the eastbound lane, striking the Krischons’ car, which was traveling behind the truck, head-on.
An Illinois jury just delivered a $67M verdict in a deadly 2018 crash involving a Panera truck. | Provided
Bob survived but sustained multiple fractures, a collapsed lung and chronic pain. His father, who was unresponsive after the crash, died when their vehicle caught fire.
Attorneys for the Krischon family argued in court the operator of the truck should have known his trailer was capable of “off-tracking” when driving along a curved road, and that he should have taken precautionary measures to avoid such an outcome.
What they’re saying:
During the trial’s opening statements, attorneys for the Krischon family said the driver of the truck had been involved in four separate collisions in their 11 years working for Panera.
“Despite his troubling driving record, he was still permitted to drive a semi-truck and Panera did not provide appropriate retraining following the collisions,” Heidi Wickstrom said.
The attorneys also said the verdict sends a message to companies to “properly train their employees at every level.”
“This case is tragic on so many levels,” Patrick Salvi II said in a statement. “Just before this crash, the Krischon family was planning Fred’s 89th birthday party – but he never made it to that birthday because of this preventable crash.”
The Source: The information in this story came from law firm Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C.