BENTON – A Missouri trucker is suing a Mississippi trucking company and a driver, alleging negligence for injuries he says he suffered as the result of a tractor-trailer accident in Cumberland County.
Jeffrey Kohlhauff of O'Fallon, Missouri, filed a lawsuit Dec. 22 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois against Darby Trucking Company and Matthew Lee, both of Mississippi, alleging negligence.
According to the complaint, on Jan. 7, 2014, Kohlhauff was injured in a rear-end collision between his Peterbilt tractor trailer and an International Prostar tractor trailer owned by Darby Trucking Company and driven by Lee on Interstate Highway 57. The suit says Lee was driving at a high rate of speed and the impact of the collision and caused the plaintiff's vehicle to continue to the shoulder of the highway and come to a stop.
The suit states Lee was negligent in following too closely, failure to stop the vehicle, failure to sound the horn, and failure to slow down enough to avoid colliding with the plaintiff's tractor trailer among other charges.
As a result, the lawsuit says, the plaintiff was injured in his spine, neck and shoulders, causing him medical bills in the past and future, surgeries and medical treatment in the past and future, pain and suffering, emotional distress, lost wages and a loss of earning capacity.
Kohlhauff seeks more than $75,000, plus court costs from both defendants. He is represented by attorney J. Brad Wilmoth of Brown & Crouppen PC of St. Louis.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois case number 3:15-cv-001398