Facts

On Nov. 27, 2012, shortly before 8 a.m., Quoc Thang Dang, 49, his sister, ThuyTrang Thi Dang, 48, and their friend, Thanh Mhan Thi Nguyen, 54, were on California State Route 152 and Road 16, on their way to work in Dinuba, in Quoc's 1999 Honda Accord. A big rig driven by Jose Luis Batres, who was working for the Western Milling Co., attempted to make a left hand turn across two lanes of the freeway. Visibility was less than 200 feet. At the same time, another big rig, driven by Armando Suarez Jr. of Semper Trucking, hauling 500-pound bales of cotton was coming from the other direction. As it hit the fog bank the truck clipped the rear of the Batres truck and overturned, spewing bales of cotton on the highway. A few minutes later, Liwei Xu of Well Trucking, entered the fog bank as he approached Road 16 and hit the cotton bales. Xu lost control, swerved left across the median into the eastbound lanes of the highway and collided head-on with Quoc's Honda. Quoc and his passengers sustained fatal injuries.

Plaintiffs' were the decedents' spouses and children.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiffs claimed Batres was negligent by making a left turn across two lanes of traffic in near zero visibility. Plaintiffs asserted causes of action for wrongful death.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
Defendant Batres contended he had sufficient visibility to make a left hand turn across the highway and that defendant Suarez should have been traveling slower and avoided the collision with his trailer. Defendant Suarez contended he was traveling at a safe speed and responded appropriately to the sudden dense foggy conditions and unexpected presence of the Batres rig. Both Batres and Suarez contended they should not be responsible for Xu's negligence in contributing to the second collision with plaintiffs' decedents.

Defendant Xu contended he was traveling at a safe speed for conditions and responded appropriately to the sudden dense fog and unexpected collision debris in the roadway but could not avoid striking the cotton bales, which caused him to lose control of his rig.

Damages

Plaintiffs presented no evidence of economic damages for the jury to consider and only asked for non-economic damages for loss of love, society, comfort and care, and funeral costs.

Result

The jury found Batres 75 percent at fault for initiating the series of collisions. Xu was found 25 percent at fault for driving too fast when he entered the fog bank and losing control of his truck. Suarez was found not negligent. The families of Quoc Dang and ThuyTrang Dang were awarded $8.5 million, and $5.2 million went to the Nguyen family, for a total award of $13,788,768.

Deliberation

4.5 hours

Length

15 days