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Talmadge Waldrip dies, Advocate for safety improvements
By Rick Mann, rmann@starlocalnews.com
Talmadge Waldrip, 78, who fought the U-Haul Company to institute safety improvements, died Saturday at his home in Forney.
In September 2006, Waldrip was severely injured when run over by a rented U-Haul truck after Waldrip had placed the truck in park and engaged the parking break. After getting out of the vehicle, the truck began rolling, knocking Waldrip down and running over him.
Injuries from the incident kept Waldrip virtually bedridden until his death. His wife, Bernice, cared for him to the point of turning him in bed every 30 minutes, according to the Waldrip’s attorney, Ted Lyon.
“Bernice is an absolute saint,” Lyon said. “She took care of him the best she could as did other members of the family. There was a tremendous amount of love there.”
The Waldrip family filed suit against the U-Haul subsidiary responsible for the truck and was awarded an initial judgment of $87 million. Through the appeals process the judgment has dropped into the $30 million range. The case now awaits a ruling from the Texas Supreme Court. The justices have heard the case and one source with the court said a ruling could come at the end of August.
The initial jury found U-Haul negligent of the following:
The parking brake shoe in the truck had worn away completely, and putting the gear stick in first had the same effect as putting it in neutral.
The truck was 18 years old and had about 234,000 miles on it, and its state inspection sticker was expired.
Between the date that U-Haul allegedly “inspected” the truck and the Waldrip injury, the truck had 14 other renters, and the parking brake had failed for about half of them.
U-Haul inspections are performed inadequately, if at all. Many inspectors lack basic knowledge to do this job.
Canada’s crack-down on U-Haul in 2005 and 2006 to better maintain its fleet has resulted in many defective, older vehicles being shipped to the United States and put into fleets.
Talmadge Waldrip is survived by his wife Bernice; his daughter Dinah Simington and daughter Ann Boyd and several grandchildren.
In September 2006, Waldrip was severely injured when run over by a rented U-Haul truck after Waldrip had placed the truck in park and engaged the parking break. After getting out of the vehicle, the truck began rolling, knocking Waldrip down and running over him.
Injuries from the incident kept Waldrip virtually bedridden until his death. His wife, Bernice, cared for him to the point of turning him in bed every 30 minutes, according to the Waldrip’s attorney, Ted Lyon.
“Bernice is an absolute saint,” Lyon said. “She took care of him the best she could as did other members of the family. There was a tremendous amount of love there.”
The Waldrip family filed suit against the U-Haul subsidiary responsible for the truck and was awarded an initial judgment of $87 million. Through the appeals process the judgment has dropped into the $30 million range. The case now awaits a ruling from the Texas Supreme Court. The justices have heard the case and one source with the court said a ruling could come at the end of August.
The initial jury found U-Haul negligent of the following:
The parking brake shoe in the truck had worn away completely, and putting the gear stick in first had the same effect as putting it in neutral.
The truck was 18 years old and had about 234,000 miles on it, and its state inspection sticker was expired.
Between the date that U-Haul allegedly “inspected” the truck and the Waldrip injury, the truck had 14 other renters, and the parking brake had failed for about half of them.
U-Haul inspections are performed inadequately, if at all. Many inspectors lack basic knowledge to do this job.
Canada’s crack-down on U-Haul in 2005 and 2006 to better maintain its fleet has resulted in many defective, older vehicles being shipped to the United States and put into fleets.
Talmadge Waldrip is survived by his wife Bernice; his daughter Dinah Simington and daughter Ann Boyd and several grandchildren.
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