Pasco – A lawsuit filed Tuesday in Franklin County Superior Court blames the speeding motorcyclist and county officials for the death of Nicole Lynn Woodbury, a 10 year-old girl that was killed.
Jeff Woodbury was driving the Jaguar when the crash occurred at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 2, 2008, about three miles north of Pasco. His daughter, the victim, was sitting in the back seat of her father’s 1986 Jaguar when Allen Joshua “A.J.” Cockrum’s motorcycle crashed into the car’s back door.
Nicole Woodbury and Cockrum both died. Jeff Woodbury, then 50, was hospitalized with extensive injuries, including a punctured lung.
Troopers investigating the incident determined that Cockrum, 19, was drunk.
Despite that, the lawsuit contends that when he ran a stop sign at Selph Landing Road, the crash might have been avoided had the two vehicles been able to see each other as they approached the Taylor Flats Road intersection.
Kennewick lawyer Diehl Rettig represents the victim’s parents Sharon and Jeff Woodbury. Rettig believes that county road crews missed many opportunities to install such safety devices as flashing lights to alert motorists to the upcoming stop sign.
The complaint states that the collision was a result of Cockrum’s negligence but also blames Franklin County for failing “to remedy the inherently dangerous condition of the intersection, identified … as early as 1972.”
“This is at an intersection where the county has known for many years that the mound of dirt … blocks the view of northbound traffic [on Taylor Flats],” Rettig said.
It is always tragic when two young people die in such a tragic accident. It is important that the state of Washington also recognizes its most dangerous intersections.
If you or a loved one have been seriously injured or killed in a car accident it is important that you find legal council before the statute of limitations on wrongful death lawsuits expires. Call Phillips Webster for a consultation on your legal options.
