Trucking company and driver named in wrongful death complaint

The guardian of a man's two minor children has filed suit against a trucking company and one of its drivers, alleging the man was killed after a truck driver hit the motorcycle on which he was riding.

Tamara Rounds claims Mark and Brittany Weihe's father, James Weihe, was driving a motorcycle north on Illinois State Route 127 on Nov. 23, 2006, when defendant James Berna, who was driving an International Eagle semi-tractor on an exit ramp of Interstate 64 at its intersection with Illinois State Route 127, struck him.

Because of the accident, James Weihe died, and his minor children have suffered pecuniary and personal loss, including the loss of their father's society, services and support, according to the complaint filed Dec. 22 in St. Clair County Circuit Court.

Rounds blames Berna for failing to keep a proper lookout for other vehicles, for failing to keep his vehicle under control and for failing to yield the right-of-way.

Driver Logisitics is also named as a defendant in the suit because it was the company where Berna worked at the time of the incident.

In the two-count suit, Rounds is seeking a judgment of more than $100,000, plus costs.

James R. Williams of the Law Offices of Williams, Caponi, Foley and Eckert in Belleville will be representing him.

St. Clair County Circuit Court case number: 09-L-683.