BOSTON, Mass. (WHDH/AP) — A survivor of a collision that killed seven motorcyclists in New Hampshire last month has sued the pickup driver charged in the crash and the trucking company that employed him.
Attorney John Haymond told 7NEWS that he filed the negligence suit Tuesday in Hampden Superior Court in Springfield, Massachusetts, on behalf of Joshua Morin.
“It’s beyond anything that I’ve ever encountered in my legal career,” Haymond said.
Haymond says Morin, of Dalton, Massachusetts, fractured leg bones and suffered other injuries in the June 21 crash in Randolph. He remains hospitalized.
“He’s got horrendous injuries and has had numerous surgeries,” Haymond added.
Morin’s medical bills are approaching $500,000, with more surgeries still needed.
The suit names Westfield Transport Inc. and Volodymyr Zhukovskyy. Zhukovskyy has pleaded not guilty to negligent homicide.
The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles failed to terminate Zhukovskyy commercial driving license because a backlog of 365 notices reflecting serious offenses went overlooked, MassDOT announced last week.
“The Commonwealth has made a major mistake,” Haymond said. “He shouldn’t have been operating a commercial vehicle.
Connecticut prosecutors said Zhukovskyy was arrested in May in a Walmart parking lot after failing a sobriety test. Police in Texas said Zhukovskyy also crashed a tractor-trailer in suburban Houston in June. He was also arrested on a drunken driving charge in 2013 in Westfield, Massachusetts.
Zhukovskyy’s recent drunken driving arrest should have triggered an automatic license suspension, according to MassDOT.
Haymond says Morin has remained strong and hopes to ride again someday.
Zhukovskyy’s attorney and the trucking company that employed him could not be reached for comment.
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