DALLAS COUNTY, Texas — A Dallas County jury recently awarded nearly $4 million to the parents of a 24-year-old who tragically died almost three years ago after colliding with a disabled and stalled semi-truck in the middle of Interstate 635 approaching State Highway 121.
Attorneys for Robert Buntyn's parents argued that the driver of a semi-truck owned and operated by Newkirk Logistics failed to alert motorists that her tractor-trailer was stalled after hitting something in the roadway. They said there was no road flares, no hazard lights and no time to react for Buntyn, whose car was crunched under the back of the trailer as he drove home from working at his family's mortuary business on September 2, 2021.
Litigators for Cowen Rodriguez Peacock underscored that despite one of the truck's brake lines being disconnected, the truck was still operable. The driver, who had been working for the company for just a matter of weeks, didn't pull to the shoulder or off the road to avoid being a sitting hazard.
The jury found Buntyn 10% at fault, with the truck driver, 23-year-old Desiree Boyd, and Newkirk shouldering the remaining 90% of responsibility.
As a result, Buntyn's parents were awarded roughly $3.6 million in damages.
Attorneys for Newkirk and Boyd have asked a Dallas County court to enter a judgment and ignore the jury verdict. Those same attorneys told WFAA that they plan to appeal the case to the best of their ability.
That legal pushback started this entire ordeal in late 2021, Buntyn's father, Bryan, told WFAA.
Mr. Buntyn was more than willing to sit down and do an interview after the jury verdict had been reached, arguing that at this point -- Newkirk and their driver owe more than what he and his family requested from them in the first place.
"We offered them six times to just settle for their insurance policy -- we were looking at the full amount of $1 million. We didn't want to put everybody through a trial, and they chose not to settle," Bryan Buntyn told WFAA. "The insurance company and their attorneys had the same evidence we had presented. They looked at the same thing that we saw in court, and they still chose not to settle the case, which was incredible. And now they're appealing it."
"It felt like a dare -- they didn't care if you took them to trial," Bryan Buntyn stated.
With the upper hand now legally, Buntyn is calling on trucking companies in Texas to train their drivers better and own up when they make mistakes. "These companies shouldn't make families go through a two to three-year process just to settle a case and get accountability," Buntyn said.
The Lone Star State sees more fatalities in crashes involving large trucks than both California and Florida -- the most recent reporting year kept by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration saw 806 deaths in 2021.
The state and the federal government require trucking companies to keep $500,000 to $5 million in liability insurance on hand in case of an accident like Buntyn's. The amount fluctuates depending on the type of travel and cargo being carried.
Buntyn told WFAA he and his son's mother simply asked for whatever Newkirk's policy allowed but were offered less. "It was never about the money -- it was about someone being held liable for what they did to him," Buntyn said.
Buntyn and his son's mother sued for at least $1,000,000 in late 2021. Buntyn described the waiting game as a mess. He runs a mortuary business and said that Robert was following in his footsteps by preparing for mortuary school. The pair were avid Raiders fans and planned to go to the new Las Vegas stadium before Robert died.
Robert was working late at their funeral home for the last time before he got in the car.
"My other son texted me and said Robert didn't come home. I texted him -- and I felt like I was texting a ghost. It was the strangest thing," Buntyn said. "I have the Tarrant County Medical Examiner number on my phone, and when it popped up, I didn't want to answer it because I knew when I swiped, my life would be changed forever."
Bryan Buntyn's grandfather died in a car accident in 1982, he told us -- this is the second time his family has felt this kind of pain, and it's a pain he wouldn't want anyone else to feel.
He now questions state CDL training and training within trucking companies and looks to his son, wondering what more could have been done to prevent his death.
With trucking accidents happening more often -- Buntyn even added that the state legislature should discuss, implement, and enforce additional regulations for safer roads.
"I always made a promise to him that no one would ever kill one of my kids and get away with it. If I were driving that car that night -- he would be here doing this for me," Buntyn said.
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