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Settlement reached in tragic death of Rivera Beach police officer - $27 truck part may have spared life

May 20, 2004

In the middle of the night on August 17, 2001, Rivera Beach police officer Donald A. Eberhardt, Jr. signed off duty and headed home to his wife and two small children. Tragically, he would never see his family again.

Shortly after leaving the police station, Officer Eberhardt's car struck the rear of an illegally parked tractor-trailer that was completely stopped with its lights out in a thru-lane of Blue Heron Boulevard in Riviera Beach. The result of this collision was horrific: The rear under-ride guard completely collapsed when it was hit by Officer Eberhardt's car traveling at no more than 30 miles per hour. As a consequence, the passenger car "under-rode" the back of the trailer, its roof was sheared off and Officer Eberhardt was killed. He was 32 years old.

Attorney Edward M. Ricci represented the Eberhardt family, and recently reached a settlement with Utility Trailer Manufacturing Company (Utility) concerning the officer's tragic and untimely death.

Utility Trailer Manufacturing Co. (Utility) manufactured the installed rear under-ride guard that killed Officer Eberhardt. "The company has been using 1960's technology for 30-plus years, ignoring the government's plea to upgrade guard safety. In the 1980's the American Truck and Trailer Association, the industry trade group for tractor-trailer manufacturers, also urged its members to upgrade under-ride protection," said Ricci.

Additionally, U.S. Department of Transportation has been urging tractor-trailer manufacturers to install safe under-ride protection since the early 1980's. "Over the past two decades there has been a shift in federal policy away from mandatory regulation to voluntary compliance and the American Trucking Industry has falsely claimed that the public is adequately protected from the well-known danger of death from passenger cars under-riding trailers," added Ricci.

"To make matters worse," said Edward Ricci, "Utility never conducted any testing. Here is a company that ignores the safety Recommendations of the Federal Government and its own industry, and it does not protect the public. A human life was taken all over the $27 dollars it would have cost to install a proper rear guard. This is nothing in the total cost of what a tractor/trailer unit sells for which is well over $100,000,' he added.

Attorney Edward M. Ricci in the law firm of Edward M. Ricci, P.A., has specialized in civil trial law for more than 34 years. The firm is headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida at 515 N. Flagler Avenue, Suite 400. Mr. Ricci can be contacted at (561) 842-2820. Additional information about Edward M. Ricci, P.A. may be obtained from the firm's website at www.edriccilaw.com.
 

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