'Equivalent to manslaughter.' Families of Spanish tourists sue truck driver, employer
The families of four Spanish tourists killed on U.S. 1 in the Florida Keys in March filed a negligence lawsuit in federal court against the company that employed the truck driver who hit the women's car from behind and launched it into oncoming traffic.
The women were killed March 5 trying to make a left turn in their 2018 Nissan Rogue in the northbound lane at mile marker 80 at the north end of the Tea Table Bridge. While waiting, an Isuzu truck hauling portable toilets hit the Nissan from behind. The Rogue went into the southbound lane, directly in the path of a 2016 Allegro motor home driven by Daniel Pinkerton, 62, of Alaska.
The impact on the passenger's side of the Rogue was so severe and deep that Florida Highway Patrol troopers investigating the crash determined that, although the women were likely wearing seat belts, it didn't matter. Nothing would have saved them.
The car was so mangled, first responders initially thought there were three victims. It wasn't until hours later, when the scene was being cleared, that troopers discovered the body of the fourth victim inside the wreckage.
The deaths of the four Europeans visiting South Florida brought international attention to the Florida Keys.
The truck driver, Carlos Manso Blanco, 31, was given a citation on June 29 for careless driving. The FHP traffic homicide report was not immediately available.
The women's families filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court against Manso Blanco and his employer, Discount Rock and Sand, based in Marathon, on June 29.
Manso Blanco could not be reached for comment. A woman answering the phone at Discount Rock and Sand Friday said the company "will not be commenting on anything on that."
The families' attorney, Carlos Silva, wrote in the complaint that by letting Manso Blanco, who'd been issued three traffic citations between December 2016 and December 2017 — including for driving with an expired license and running a stop sign — drive, Discount Rock and Sand's "conduct was equivalent to manslaughter."
The victims of the crash are Margarita Cortés-Pardo, the 31-year-old driver from Illes Balears, Spain; María López-Bermejo Rosselló, 31, of Mallorca, Spain; Teresa Sánchez Quetglas, 30, also from Mallorca; and Ana Gaitán Díaz, 31, from Cordoba, Spain.
The women were killed within a two-mile stretch of the Keys highway where accidents are common, so much so that following the crash, Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay pressed the Florida Department of Transportation to lower the speed limit between mile marker 78 to 80 from 55 mph to 45 mph.
The reason crashes happen frequently there is because the area is a popular pull-over spot to launch boats, picnic, swim, fish and paddle.
FDOT initially turned down Ramsay's request, but at his urging, the agency compromised and lowered the limit to 50 mph.
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This story was originally published July 6, 2018 at 2:41 PM with the headline "'Equivalent to manslaughter.' Families of Spanish tourists sue truck driver, employer."