CORAL GABLES, Fla. (Dec. 7, 2012) – Coral Gables-based law firm Colson Hicks Eidson filed a wrongful death complaint in the 11th Judicial Circuit Court in Miami-Dade County today on behalf of the family of Francisco Urena against Ramon Ferreiro, Miami Bus Service Corp., and Miami Bus Service II Corp.
Urena, 56, was one of two passengers killed on Dec. 1, 2012 when a charter bus he was riding in en route to a church function slammed into a concrete overpass at Miami International Airport. The 32 passengers on board were part of a congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses who were traveling from Miami to a gathering in West Palm Beach. The suit alleges Ferreiro negligently drove the 11-foot high bus, which was owned and operated by Miami Bus Service Corp. and Miami Bus Service II Corp., into an 8-foot-6-inch overpass at the airport. Urena was fatally injured as a result of the crash and died at the hospital shortly thereafter.
The complaint alleges negligence resulting in the death of Francisco Urena. According to the complaint, Ferreiro negligently drove the bus on the wrong route at an unsafe speed at the time and place of the accident.
“As a bus driver, Ferreiro owed a duty to all of the passengers of the bus to exercise reasonable care,” said Lewis S. “Mike” Eidson, counsel for Urena’s family. “Bus drivers must be alert at all times and fully aware of their limitations and capacity of the vehicle they are operating. It is shocking that the driver could have collided with a clearly-marked concrete overpass in broad daylight, with multiple signs warning high vehicles away from the area. Bus companies must do more to ensure that their drivers are properly trained and understand traffic signs to prevent such avoidable accidents. Urena was a dedicated father and husband and this is an outrageous tragedy of immense proportions and should never happen again.”
The lawsuit demands judgment against the Defendants for all damages recoverable under the Florida Wrongful Death Act.
# # #
About Lewis S. “Mike” Eidson:
Eidson, founding partner at Colson Hicks Eidson, is a nationally recognized trial attorney and former president of the American Association for Justice, the world’s leading trial bar. He has tried more than 120 jury trials for significant personal injury and wrongful death as well as multiple multi-million dollar cases to verdict and settlement.
About Colson Hicks Eidson:
The Law Firm of Colson Hicks Eidson is a trial firm with more than 40 years of experience handling local, national and international litigation. Partners at the firm have had the distinction of holding the following offices: President of the 60,000-member American Association for Justice; President of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers; President of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers; President of the Dade County Bar Association; President of the Miami-Dade Florida Association of Women Lawyers; United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; and Chairman of the Florida Federal Judicial Nominating Commission. For more information, call 305-476-7400.