Gravel Truck Operator Clearly at Fault in Deadly Martinez Accident

Tragedy struck in Martinez last week, when a gravel truck tipped over in a residential neighborhood, killing a pregnant woman while she was moving her car out of a driveway on Shell Avenue.

Lindsey Combs, 32 years old, was inside her car, in front of her Martinez home, when the gravel truck toppled over, crushing her. Combs’ friends and family are mourning her death, and sources released late last week that Combs was in fact, pregnant at the time of the truck accident. I understand as well that Ms. Combs’ four year old son witnessed this terrible event.

The driver of the gravel truck, as well as the owner of the company, are now attempting to address this fatal Martinez truckaccident, and, absent some strong evidence to the contrary, liability for this death seems clear and obvious. I see this Martinez wrongful death as predictable and preventable and I hate to learn of excuses being spun by those who should be held accountable for this death.

“He (the driver) is completely destroyed over what happened” said Greg Menna, owner of Greg’s Trucking Service, responsible for the truck involved in the accident “I just spoke to him an hour ago and he’s not handling it well. He was going to retire this coming January 4.”

The driver, Darrel Crockett, worked with Menna for over 25 years without any violations.

“He felt comfortable with it and it was going up level and something happened. He didn’t move, his brakes didn’t lock”.

Menna also commented that the trailer had recently been inspected and was deemed safe, and that Crockett was hauling a legal load of gravel.

Despite Mr. Menna’ comments, and the claimed good record on both the truck and the driver, it’s obvious that something went terribly wrong and that this was not the fault of Lindsey Combs. As a California truck accident attorney and as awrongful death attorney, I know well that many factors can contribute to causing a fatal accident. Many questions must be asked, including whether this driver was fit to drive and whether this vehicle was fit for this load? Interesting is that Greg’s Trucking is known to use owner-operators. This means that Greg’s may not have been the employer and may not have been supervising this driver as closely as they could have or should have. This means that Greg’s may not have been assuring that all safety regulations for truckers were followed by this driver. While the Combs family is mourning this loss, they should also retain a good attorney now who can hire competent investigators who can provide some answers to these very troubling questions. If the Greg’s truck was indeed owned by Greg’s then they were responsible to make sure that the truck was properly loaded, and that the driver was adequately trained and that he was fit for driving this truck and that all regulations were met. I will be keeping a close watch on this case.

Also, a donation fund has been started to help the Comb’s family and cover funeral expenses. If you would like to donate,please click here.

Hello, I’m Claude Wyle, a San Francisco truck accident and wrongful death attorney. Have an idea for a topic you’d like to see covered here? Feel free to contact me or visit www.ccwlawyers.com