Old Dominion Freight driver accused of badly injuring cyclist while using wireless device
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Old Dominion Freight Line Inc., which has a substantial presence in Hampton Roads, has been accused of employing a driver who was distracted from the road by a wireless device – a distraction that caused him to hit a motorcyclist who remains hospitalized more than two months later.
Old Dominion has denied the claim, made in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Sioux Falls, S.D., the Associated Press reported.
Old Dominion driver Jeffrey Peterson was driving on Interstate 229 in Sioux Falls on July 31 when he rear-ended motorcyclist Randy Helwig, according to the AP report.
Peterson was “using a messaging device to communicate with the company,” the story said, and was cited for careless driving.
Old Dominion, in court papers, said Peterson “glanced” at the device but was not “utilizing” it.
It is common for truckers to have laptop computers or other devices always deployed in the cab to get updates and orders from their dispatchers, The New York Times reported last month.
Helwig suffered a broken pelvis, broken ribs, broken back, lacerated liver and spleen, head injury, and a badly damaged left arm. He lost one kidney and his small intestine.
Helwig is fed through a tube, has nine drainage tubes coming from different parts of his body and is still undergoing surgeries, according to his CaringBridge Web site.
Texting and other wireless-device use have been in the news lately, and have even received attention from President Barack Obama. I hope people heed advice to avoid using these devices while driving.
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