By Emily Alpert Staff Writer
Gilroy – The family of Gilroy resident Sean Merriman filed suit Monday against the truck driver who slammed into a Caltrans truck on April 4, killing their son. The lawsuit alleges that Louis Estrada Vasquez, an employee of Ponzini Community Garage, Inc. in Morgan Hill, was negligent while driving a tow truck on U.S. 101, causing Merriman’s death. The tow company also was named as a defendant in the suit.
Vasquez also has been charged by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office with involuntary manslaughter.
Merriman, 32, was part of a three-man Caltrans crew repairing potholes near Hellyer Avenue in San Jose, a job he had taken in January 2006. He was pinned between two Caltrans vehicles after Vasquez collided with one of them, pushing it into the second. Two other workers escaped the accident. According to Caltrans officials, the crew had followed proper protocol by placing the safety truck to serve as a buffer between the workers and traffic.
“This tragedy could easily have been avoided,” said Rob Bohn, the Merrimans’ attorney. “Vasquez should have been driving slower and paying attention to where he was going.”
Wet roads played a factor in the crash, said CHP officer Steve Perea, but weather isn’t to blame for the accident.
“Weather never causes a collision,” said Perea, who later added, “65 (mph) is probably not a safe speed to be doing in the rain, even though that is the maximum speed limit.”
The flat-bed tow truck was traveling at “top speed” when it collided with the Caltrans vehicle, according to a Caltrans press release. Flares were lit and placed in the roadway and a “lane closed” sign was posted in a third lane, along with amber arrow signals directing traffic away from the workers, according to Bohn.
The attorney also criticized Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who vetoed a “Move Over” bill Bohn said “would probably have saved Sean.”
