CLAY CO.—The city of Flora and its assistant police chief have been sued in Clay County civil court following a December 2013 accident that significantly injured the officer.
Guy Durre, Assistant Police Chief of the Flora Police Department, was injured on the evening of December 9, 2013, after responding to a report of a car-deer accident on the northeast side of Flora on U.S. 50. At shortly before 6 that evening, as Durre was making a U-turn on 50 to get to the accident, at the intersection of Stanford and 50, his cruiser was struck by a semi traveling behind him.
Durre sustained significant injuries to his left shoulder, and left side and hip, these including a broken left collar bone and severe bruising. The driver of the semi was determined to have sustained no injuries after being taken to Clay County Hospital, which was not far from the accident scene; Durre, on the other hand, was airlifted to Deaconess Hospital in Evansville for treatment.
Yet in paperwork filed by the truck driver, Floyd George Evans, there is no mention made of Durre’s injuries; instead, the suit claims that Evans was the one who was injured so severely that he has since “incurred pain and suffering, loss of normal life, has been unable to work and has lost wages and other profits, and was caused to incur medical expenses for care and treatment and diagnostic procedures”…to the extent that he’s filed the twelve-count suit blaming Durre and the city of Flora for his hardship, whatever that was.
Evans and his employer for which he was hauling that day, Schak Trucking, Inc., out of Minnesota, as well as their insurer, Great Western Casualty Company, are being represented by Wham and Wham Lawyers in Centralia.
Filed Dec. 8, 2014, the complaint lists several allegations that have to do with injury to Evans, damage to his vehicle, costs for his company and more, all for a monetary demand on each count in excess of $50,000.
The way Evans saw it
The circumstances as Evans sees them were outlined under the first count in the case, “Personal Injury Against Defendant Guye Blaine Durre” (sources in Flora indicate that the name is spelled “Guy,” but it’s misspelled throughout the complaint as “Guye.”)
There, Evans states that he was operating a 2012 International Harvester tractor-trailer truck and trailer traveling eastbound on Route 50 in Clay County, Stanford Township, Illinois, and was a quarter-mile east of North Stanford Road following the vehicle being driven by Durre who was immediately in front of him, eastbound in a city of Flora police car at approximately 5:53 p.m.
Evans was transporting a load of cargo in the truck, which was insured by Great Western Casualty Company, which brings them into the picture.
He stated that the vehicles “were traveling at highway speed when suddenly, without warning, the vehicle being operated by Durre braked and pulled off the right side of the roadway on to the shoulder of the roadway and engaged its emergency lights.”
Evans said in response, he turned to the left to allow additional space between the two eastbound vehicles, his and Durre’s.
But, he said, after Durre drove the car off the road to the right onto the shoulder of the roadway, he immediately turned the vehicle to the left and crossed the highway.
“As a result of this maneuver by Durre,” Evans stated in his complaint, “he caused his vehicle to block a portion of both the eastbound and westbound lanes of 50 in such a manner as to cause the vehicle to obstruct the forward movement of the tractor trailer truck, resulting in a collision.”
Did he not take ordinary care?
Evans at this point in the complaint claimed that Durre “owed a duty to exercise ordinary care to Evans and the truck,” and that the collision was a “direct and proximate result of one or more of the negligent acts of omission.”
Durre turned his vehicle to the left and obstructed the roadway knowing that there would be a [sic] impact as there was no time for Evans’ truck to slow or stop; he failed to yield the right-of-way to Evans, who had the preferential right-of-way of continuing to travel eastbound on 50; Durre committed improper lane usage in that he left the eastbound lane of travel and went onto the right shoulder, then re-entered the eastbound/westbound lanes of 50 when it was not safe to do so; Durre made an improper U-turn contrary to traffic code and that he failed to keep a proper lookout.
As a direct and proximate result of one or more of the foregoing, Evans claimed, he received personal injury, incurred pain and suffering, loss of normal life, was unable to work and lost wages and other profits and was cause to incur medical expense for care and treatment and diagnostic procedures, and was force to incur additional expense for lodging and travel which he would not have otherwise have incurred but for the aforesaid collision.
Recurring claims under different counts
The second count is Personal Injury Against City of Flora as a defendant, which Evans states is responsible for Durre’s actions; the third count is Personal Injury Against Durre himself, restating in this the same allegations as set forth above.
Count four is another Personal Injury Against City of Flora, which effectively (and inexplicably) restates count two.
Count five is Schak Trucking, Inc., Property Damage, Loss of Use and Profits and Incidental Expense Against Durre; Count six is the same allegation except against the City of Flora. In these, it’s stated that not only was Evans and the truck damaged, but the company incurred towing bills and expenses for damage of property to be removed from the accident scene and to be transferred for repairs, the cost of repairing the damaged 2012 International Harvester truck and the diminishing value as a result of the extent of the damage, loss and use and income occasioned by the down time and loss of use due to the repairs and other miscellaneous expense that it would not have incurred but for the collision.
Count seven is Schak Trucking, Inc’s Medical Expenses, Property Damage, Cost of Repair, Loss of Use Against Durre; County eight is same against the City of Flora.
Count nine is General Western Casualty Company’s Subrogation Interest as a Result of the Payments Made as the Cause of Collision Against Durre; count ten is the same against the City of Flora.
Count eleven is another inexplicable repeat of count nine, and count twelve is the casualty company against City of Flora.
Each count carries a monetary demand in excess of $50,000.
That’s what insurance is for
Naturally, Schak Trucking is merely attempting to recover some of their costs after an insurance payout, and likely much of this is simply legal maneuvering in order to get the city, which carries tort insurance, to pay out even the minimum amount (generally $25,000 per claim, although that amount can vary depending on the incident).
However, for Evans to not state specific injuries, and for him to have been declared fine on the evening the crash occurred while Durre was airlifted to an out-of-state hospital for treatment, is an act a little south of rude on his part, as well as on the part of the trucking firm…and especially on the part of the insurer, which is only present because trucking firms are required to carry such insurance in order to operate…and which is what the company pays monthly premiums for.
No court date has yet been set for the matter in Clay County.