Transcript
911 Dispatch: This is 911. Do you have an emergency?
Caller: Yes, sir. There’s been a bad traffic accident. The gentleman
is not responding. We’re at Camby Road and Kentucky Avenue.
911 Dispatch: Ok, stand-by. We’re going to get transferred over to
the fire department and ambulance, so hang on.
Caller: There was an accident at the traffic light, an 18-wheeler and a Ford F-150 4×4. — Is he still
unconscious?
David Craig: So, Mr. Card was married to Georgia, and he had two boys, Chris and Scott. And he had a lot of grandkids. And he was the glue that held his family together.
Georgia Card: Bill played, I’d have to say, the biggest role. He’d give the shirt off his back to anyone, but where it came to our children and grandchildren, he went well overboard.
Amanda Card: Our youngest is the baby of the grandkids, and he had his special name for her was Kitten.
Chris Card: My dad was, just a good person. He was the rock of our family. I learned a lot from him. I would like to think that I’m half the person he was.
David Craig: It was April 16, 2021. It was a Friday at about 3.11 in the afternoon. A gentleman named William Card was on his way to get some parts to a tractor. The light turned green for him to go, and as he’s making his left-hand turn, he was hit by a semi-tractor trailer.
Georgia Card: Our oldest son, Stott, called. He said Bill had been in an accident. So that being said, I knew then it wasn’t good.
David Craig: We got hired early on because these folks knew a lawyer, and that lawyer immediately told them to contact me. Once I got called, I put our rapid response team on this case. We immediately went to the scene. I had investigators out looking for physical evidence. There was some skid marks and some marking at the scene. I then hired a reconstructionist who shot it with a drone, also shot it from the ground, and videotaped and photographed all the markings. When we downloaded the semi, we were able to show that it didn’t stop or break. When we downloaded the F-150, we were able to show that it started from a stop and just accelerating at a normal pace into the intersection, which was consistent with the eyewitness testimony. Now, this truck driver said that Mr. Card ran the red light, and the family knew that that was not possible because he was the most careful driver in the entire family. Luckily, there were witnesses there, and the physical evidence proved that it was the semi driver who didn’t stop, not Mr.
Card. Mr. Card was hit by that semi, and he lived. When he was found in the vehicle, he was unconscious. He had a severe brain injury. The doctors told the family that some people survived with this injury. but they’re never the same, but that most people don’t survive. The family prayed. On April 28, 2021, he passed away. This case was tragic in multiple ways. It was tragic in that we had a truck driver that didn’t care about safety. He lied about what happened. And then to make matters worse, he started moving money
around as if he was trying to hide assets. The worst truck drivers out there do not carry adequate insurance. The minimum insurance required by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations is $750,000 for commercial motor vehicles that are in interstate commerce. This driver had a million dollars worth of coverage. But Mr. Card’s medical bills exceeded $500,000. His truck that was totaled was over $50,000. His truck was knocked into another vehicle, and that truck was damaged, as well as two other people were injured. One million dollars worth of insurance is completely inadequate for any life, but certainly it was inadequate for Mr. Carr’s life, it was inadequate for the medical bills, his lost future earnings, for the property damage, but yet that limit has been that way for decades. It’s time for that to change.
Chris Card: My dad was a great man and that won’t change. Where we’re at is where we’re at, but if we can get laws changed to help somebody else, that’s what we’re here for.
Amanda Card: Craig Kelley and Faultless was recommended to us by another attorney. They made it feel like afamily atmosphere. From the very first time we called, they were telling us things that we needed to do right away, not because they wanted the money, but to help protect my father-in-law and my mother-in-law.
Chris Card: They knew there was going to be high emotion. They accepted the high emotion. They didn’t look at us any differently. I always felt like they were welcoming to my mother. And that’s who it was about. If she needed a question answered, she could get the question answered. And when we met with people, I felt very comfortable going in there. A lot of people wouldn’t be that personal. And we really do, as a family, appreciate that.
Georgia Card: Money can never replace the person you’ve lost. But the help you get along the way is monumental. And that comes from family. the attorneys you pick, talking about it. You never get over it, but those things help.