Three years after a tree fell on a truck traveling Sherwood Road in Brandon Township, killing a man, the Road Commission for Oakland County has settled a lawsuit filed by the victim’s family.
RCOC Public Information Officer Craig Bryson said $25,000 has been paid to the estate of David Aaron Allen, killed when a dead oak tree fell on the truck in which he was a passenger on March 13, 2006.
‘Our attorneys determined it would be better to settle for $25,000 than to go through litigation, which would be more expensive, even though we believe we would have won the case,? Bryson said. ‘The fact that the court allowed it to be settled for that amount means the court concurred.?
Oakland County Sixth Circuit Court Judge Michael D. Warren, Jr. presided over the case.
Attorney Jeffrey Himelhoch filed the lawsuit in February of last year on behalf of Allen’s father, Doral Lawrence.
Allen, a 25-year-old Columbiaville resident, was one of three people injured when the cab of the Ford F-150 pick-up truck they were riding in was crushed by the oak tree that fell on an afternoon when winds reached up to 60 mph. A branch from the tree struck Allen in his lower body, causing massive trauma. Firefighters used chainsaws to cut parts of the tree away and then the Jaws of Life to extricate Allen, as well as a 36-year-old female passenger and the 43-year-old male driver. Allen was taken to Genesys Regional Health Park, where he died soon after arrival. The driver and female passenger had non-life-threatening injuries.
According to a report from the RCOC, Sherwood Road resident Fred Swan reported the tree to the Department of Citizen Services in January 2006. The department received the call and routed it to the correct agency to handle the issue, Bryson said.
The RCOC report stated ‘Res. (resident) says part of tree fell close to road some time ago and is worried that the rest of the tree is ready to fall. Res. says base of tree is about 8 (feet) off side of road. Please review for rest of tree removal and clean up, ‘it looks dangerous to drive under.??
The foreman received the message on Jan. 12, and went to Sherwood Road on Jan. 13. In the report from the RCOC, the foreman responded, ‘I see no hazard, nothing to be done at this time.?
However, the report stated the oak tree was about a 1/4 mile west of Baldwin Road. In an interview following the accident, Bryson said the RCOC foreman never saw the tree that would eventually fall, because it was a quarter-mile from where the tree actually was.
Himelhoch believes the settlement was substantially impacted by state laws that make it difficult to sue the government.
‘You have to prove gross negligence,? he said. ‘We were able to establish that there was a phone call made to the road commission, but it was hard to make the connection that when they didn’t go to the right location that it constituted gross negligence. I was not happy with the outcome, but hopefully we will see some changes in the laws in the state of Michigan that will hold the government accountable when they act negligently.?
Bryson said the road commission has reviewed what happened and it doesn’t seem there was much they could have done differently.
‘This was certainly an unfortunate accident,? Bryson said. ‘We will continue to put heavy emphasis on following up on calls of anything safety related. In this case, it was just the wrong location. There were no leaves on the trees and it’s difficult to tell which trees are healthy and which are not. The person who followed up on the call did go up and down the road a ways looking for the tree, but at some point, the person responding has to make a judgment.?