Pickup driver in head-on collision files lawsuit

GALVESTON - A Tarrant County man has filed suit over a head-on collision in Ellis County which occurred about six months ago.

In a lawsuit filed Sept. 29 in Galveston County District Court, Richard E. Shirley says a 2011 Chevrolet Cruze driven by Alfred Leroy Wilson of Magnolia struck a 2008 Ford F250 pickup truck in which he was a passenger on April 14.

The truck reportedly belonged to Shirley's employer, Trico Tower Services, the suit says.

United Fire & Casualty Co. is also a defendant in the case.

Recent court documents show the truck was traveling southbound in the 600 block of Highway 287 Bypass in Ennis when Wilson's Cruze, which was traveling northbound, crossed the center line of the highway and crashed head on at highway speed into said truck.

According to the original petition, the plaintiff sustained multiple, severe and painfully disabling permanent injuries as a proximate result of the defendant's negligence.

Wilson is faulted for failing to keep a proper lookout, failing to drive on the right side of the roadway, failing to turn his vehicle to the right to avoid the collision, failing to pass to the left and return to his lane without interference with the approaching vehicle and failing to drive in a single lane.

The complainant also asserts United, the insurer of his employer's truck, should pay him underinsured motorist benefits since he was on the job when he became involved in the subject accident with a supposedly underinsured driver, stating he has met all conditions precedent to recovery under the coverage.

Consequently, Shirley seeks unspecified monetary damages.

He is represented by The Dent Law Firm.

The case has been assigned to Galveston County 10th District Court Judge David Garner.

Case No. 11-cv-1548