MEAD, Colorado — Family members of the woman who was killed when debris smashed through her windshield after an excavator on a trailer struck a bridge filed a lawsuit alleging reckless conduct by the driver and his employer.
Megan Arneson died on Aug. 8 as she drove home after a day at Water World with her 10-year-old son.
The Colorado State Patrol (CSP) said a northbound semi-truck was pulling an excavator around 6 p.m. that night. As it went under the Weld County Road 34 bridge near Mead, the arm of the excavator collided with the concrete crossbeams which sent large pieces of debris onto Arneson's Honda SUV.
She was struck and killed by the debris. Her son was injured, CSP said.
A lawsuit filed Wednesday by her parents and her son names Darnell Yingling and his employer Import Towing and Recovery as defendants.
It alleges that Yingling and the company were responsible for making sure the excavator was adequately secured for transport but "recklessly and negligently" failed to do that.
The suit also claims that no one made sure the excavator's arm was lowered and properly secured. It says that Yingling drove under the overpass without ensuring it was safe to do so with the large load he was carrying.
The family is seeking unspecified damages and has requested a jury trial. Arneson's parents released the following statement through their attorney.
"Our daughter was a very bright light in this world and a fantastic mother to her wonderful ten-year-old son. We believe that her violent and traumatic death was completely preventable and we want to do everything in our power to make sure that this never happens to anyone else."
"I think, foremost, the family wants to know the full truth," Firm partner Michael Kane said. "And that's why they chose to file the lawsuit at this time, is to discover the full truth about how and why this sort of thing happened. And then secondarily, to help ensure that something like this doesn't happen again."
He told 9News the firm believes Yingling and the company's conduct goes beyond negligent and reckless.
"We believe that the truck driver and the trucking company violated that safety rule, and this was preventable. It should never have happened," Kane said. "And so we do believe that the family...has very strong claims in this lawsuit."
9NEWS has reached out to Import Towing and Recovery, which is based in Fort Collins, but has not yet heard back.
CSP said previously that charges were expected related to the crash.
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