Driver tries to avoid hitting truck, gets rear-ended

GALVESTON - Denise L. DeBoer has filed suit against Billy Ray Grogan and Melissa J. Ainsworth over an accident in La Marque in late 2009.

A lawsuit filed Oct. 17 in Galveston County District Court claims Grogan failed to yield the right of way to DeBoer while Ainsworth rear-ended her vehicle in the 2100 block of the Gulf Freeway on Dec. 3, 2009.

The original petition insists that the plaintiff "was operating her motor vehicle in a safe and lawful manner" at the time of the alleged incident.

It further states Grogan pulled his 18-wheeler out of a driveway in front of DeBoer while she drove down the service road.

The plaintiff stopped her vehicle in order to avoid colliding with the truck only to be hit from behind by Ainsworth, the suit says.

Grogan is accused of failing to keep a proper lookout, failing to timely swerve his vehicle so as to avoid the collision in question, failing to operate said vehicle in a reasonable and prudent manner, failing to observe traffic laws and regulations and driver inattention while Ainsworth is blamed for failing to timely apply her brakes and failing to control her speed.

Consequently, DeBoer seeks unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.

She is represented by attorneys Brian E. White and Vivian H. Phan of Houston.

The case has been assigned to Galveston County 122nd District Court Judge John Ellisor.

Case No. 11-cv-1615