Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone Files $250 Million Lawsuit For Easthampton Family
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (August 15, 2024) – The Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone filed a $250 million lawsuit this week on behalf of the family of a 52-year-old, Easthampton mother who was killed earlier this year on her way home in a fatal car accident in Connecticut involving an uninsured limousine driver.
“There were so many different things that went so wrong, and on so many levels that fundamental fairness requires extraordinary compensation,” Salomone said.
The lawsuit was filed Aug. 14 in United States District Court in Springfield on behalf of the surviving family members of Paula Garcia Franks. The Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone is seeking $250 million in damages.
Paula was killed on January 9 at 2:40 am on Interstate 91 North near Hartford, Connecticut, in a limousine transporting her from JFK Airport in New York to her family’s Massachusetts home in Easthampton. She is survived by her husband, Joe Bock, and their three young children, ages 9, 13, and 15 years old.
Paula was returning from Spain, where she had been visiting family and eagerly looking forward to celebrating one of her daughter’s birthdays that day and her own birthday the next day.
Instead, Paula died in a rear-end car accident when the Nissan Rogue she was riding in quickly decelerated and was hit from behind by a Freightliner tractor-trailer.
Joe had arranged for Paula to be picked up at JFK through a transportation service named Elife Limo, which he found online and which styles itself as an online transportation platform offering transportation services throughout the world.
The driver of the Elife Limo vehicle, the Nissan Rogue, had a license identifying his home as being in Albany, New York.
Joe believed he had arranged for Paula to be safely driven home by a reputable limousine company. Instead, he later learned through the efforts of our law firm that Elife Limo maintains a shell business address at 533 Airport Road, Burlingame, CA, has never responded to this matter, and may well be uninsured.
In addition, the limousine driver of the Nissan Rogue involved in the fatal accident maintained no insurance coverage on the vehicle. Further investigation revealed that the Nissan Rogue had been involved in a serious crash less than 6 months before this tragic event and that the vehicle was declared a total loss.
What’s more, the Freightliner tractor-trailer that crashed into the Nissan Rogue was a 2024 tractor-trailer. Newer commercial trucks should be able to avoid a rear-end collision since such vehicles should be equipped with the latest crash avoidance technology.
Paula’s tragic accident illustrates the dangers people face every day due to limo drivers and transportation companies that ignore state and federal transportation laws. Sadly, accidents involving uninsured limousine drivers or unlicensed limousine companies are fairly common nationwide. In addition, many limousine accidents involve poorly maintained vehicles and other safety violations that put passengers at risk.
Strict state and federal laws govern limousine drivers and companies in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York.
On the federal level, limousine drivers and for-hire passenger carriers that engage in interstate commerce (meaning they transport people from one state to another) must register with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). These for-hire passenger carriers must also meet certain FMCSA requirements, including maintaining at least $1.5 million in insurance coverage per vehicle for vehicles transporting less than 15 passengers. For-hire passenger carriers transporting 16 or more people from one state to another must have at least $5 million in insurance coverage per vehicle.
As for statewide limousine driver requirements, Connecticut requires limousine drivers to have a Public Service Passenger License Endorsement (PSL). In New York and Massachusetts, limousine drivers must have a Commercial Driver's License (CDL) with a Passenger endorsement.
About the Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
The Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone has a well-earned reputation for being a top-notch personal injury law firm in Massachusetts. For more information about the firm, visit www.marksalomone.com or call (800) WIN-WIN1 to schedule a free case evaluation with an attorney at one of our 10 Massachusetts offices.