Drug use, company neglect to blame for multi-vehicle collision that killed three

Bryan Franco, 25, a victim of the March 1 collision.

A truck driver was speeding and under the influence of drugs prior to an accident that killed three, according to a lawsuit filed by one of the victims.

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, October 5, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ — A tractor-trailer driver under the influence of drugs and traveling at recklessly high speeds is responsible for a multi-vehicle collision that killed three people, according to a lawsuit filed in Philadelphia County Court on Wednesday.

Timothy A. Loranger and Ari S. Friedman, partners at the international civil law firm Wisner Baum, are attorneys for Gladys Desena and Roi Franco, the parents of one of the victims, Bryan Franco. Franco, a 25-year-old Reading resident, was traveling northbound on Route 33 in Monroe County on March 1, 2023, when a tractor-trailer crossed the center median from the southbound lane.

The lawsuit for wrongful death, negligence, vicarious liability and civil conspiracy, among other claims, was filed by Wisner Baum with assistance from local attorney John J. Gagliano of Gagliano Law Offices. The case is Desena v. Isai Trucking LLC et al, case number 231000574 (Philadelphia County Court, October Term 2023, Case No. 574)

The truck, owned and operated by the Doylestown-based Isai Trucking LLC, drove off an embankment near Hamilton Township, according to a post-accident report. The complaint alleges Mark A. Rideout, Jr., the truck driver, attempted to recover the vehicle but overcorrected and drove across traffic and crashed through a guard rail, crossing the median and colliding with vehicles in the highway’s northbound lane.

Isai Trucking’s tractor-trailer struck four vehicles in the course of the violent incident, the complaint states. In addition to Franco – a Reading High School graduate and a former Penn State soccer star – the victims include Samantha Crich, 40, of Wilkes-Barre and her 14-year-old passenger.

Rideout was traveling at an unsafe speed and tested positive for THC at levels that rendered him legally impaired, according to the complaint.

“Not just families – but entire communities have been devastated by the reckless actions of this driver and the negligence of the companies who put him on the road,” Friedman said in a statement on Wednesday. “Through this litigation, we hope to hold those responsible to account and achieve some small amount of justice for Bryan.”

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Wisner Baum represents over 18,000 plaintiffs in a broad range of civil litigation and has won more than $4 billion across all practice areas, including commercial transportation cases involving truck collisions, aviation disasters, bus crashes and train accidents, pharmaceutical product liability, class action litigation, mass torts, and more. The firm has earned a reputation for breaking new legal ground, holding major corporations accountable, influencing public policy, and raising public awareness about important safety issues. Learn more at https://www.wisnerbaum.com/.

Steven Crighton
Newsroom PR
[email protected]