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A grim day in NH

Recently...... It's not just trucks and those with commercial drivers licenses.


Good on all that helped :thumb

OM
 
"WEST SPRINGFIELD — One day after being hit with a lawsuit over the ghastly New Hampshire crash that killed seven motorcyclists and left two more injured, the local trucking company whose driver is allegedly at fault dissolved its corporation.

According to public records filed with the secretary state’s corporate division, Westfield Transport, which employed West Springfield resident Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, the truck driver involved in the accident, closed up shop July 3.
The day before, Joshua Morin, a registered nurse from Berkshire County and one of three survivors of the crash, sued Zhukovskyy and the company in Hampden Superior Court.

Westfield Transport’s owner of record, Dartanyan Gasanov, has refused requests for comment. He and a man named Dunyadar Gasanov, who share the same address in West Springfield, were the last corporate officers listed on state records. Dartanyan Gasanov was listed as the sole corporate officer when the company was established as a limousine and livery service in 2011, the records show.
One local attorney said the abrupt dissolution of the corporation will do nothing to circumvent lawsuits.

“They filed this dissolution thinking it would shield them from liability. It doesn’t,” said Scott Foster, chairman of the business and finance division at Springfield law firm Bulkley Richardson.

Under state law, potential litigants have a three-year window to file lawsuits after the administrative dissolution of a company, Foster added. In addition, the fact that Westfield Transport’s articles of incorporation cite limousine and livery services, as opposed to hauling cars and other cargo, may further complicate matters for the company.“Actually, what they did was really dumb. They may have opened themselves to personal liability,” Foster said."
https://www.masslive.com/news/2019/...otorcyclists-but-that-wont-stop-lawsuits.html
 
Survivor of the June NH Crash Speaks Out

Joshua Morin survived the crash in which seven of his fellow riders were killed in New Hampshire in June. The Boston (MA) Globe just sent out a story recounting the interview of Morin. I'll send the URL, but I know the GLOBE won't let you read it unless you're a subscriber. I did post it to the BMW MOA FaceBook page where the GLOBE doesn't seem to care about payment.

Here's the URL: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2...YCtQeIIM1xO8q8sHXwg8udwf_CnzqJkd-rUsRbV-59iRA
 
Joshua Morin survived the crash in which seven of his fellow riders were killed in New Hampshire in June. The Boston (MA) Globe just sent out a story recounting the interview of Morin. I'll send the URL, but I know the GLOBE won't let you read it unless you're a subscriber. I did post it to the BMW MOA FaceBook page where the GLOBE doesn't seem to care about payment.

Here's the URL: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2...YCtQeIIM1xO8q8sHXwg8udwf_CnzqJkd-rUsRbV-59iRA

I can't read it either, I do get the ads on the page, though :( How about posting a link to the FB page?
 
Such a tragedy with so many lives ruined by some moron at the licensing department allowing that POS driver to keep his license. A life sentence for that POS driver wouldn't be long enough.
 
I was able to read it just fine after closing the popup screen asking for a login.

What a horrible tragedy. For all involved.
 
Boston Globe Story 11/16/2019 - Insurance Company Wants Out of Obligation to Defend

Here's the latest chapter in this saga. Laura Crimaldi of the Boston (MA) GLOBE filed a story tonight about the crash which killed seven motorcycle riders...

"Insurer sues trucking company, victims’ estates over claims from N.H. motorcycle crash

The commercial auto insurer for the West Springfield trucking company involved in a Randolph, N.H., crash that killed seven people on motorcycles last June has filed a lawsuit asking a federal court to divide its $1 million liability policy and relieve it of its obligation to defend the business against civil litigation. In the lawsuit filed Friday in US District Court in Boston, Pilgrim Insurance Co. said it “is unable to determine the appropriate amounts to be paid” under the policy held by the trucking company, Westfield Transport, and wants a judge to divide the proceeds. The insurance company also wants to be released from its duty to defend Westfield Transport, which is facing lawsuits related to the June crash in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

The civil proceeding being pursued by Pilgrim Insurance is used by insurance companies to resolve disputes, especially in cases where many people file claims. “Pilgrim is required to provide a legal defense to its insured for lawsuits arising out of accidents during the policy term,” the suit said, citing state policy in Massachusetts. That policy, the suit said, “allows Pilgrim to relinquish its duty to defend if it tenders its full policy limits to this Court.”

The case describes 15 claims submitted to the insurer from the estates of the deceased victims, their relatives, and survivors of the June 21 collision that devastated members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club, a group of former Marines who ride motorcycles and raise money for charities.

Killed were Albert “Woody” Mazza Jr., 59, Daniel Pereira, 58; Aaron Perry, 45, and his girlfriend, Desma Oakes, 42; a married couple, Jo-Ann and Edward Corr, who were 58; and Michael Ferazzi, 62. Defendants named in the suit include the victims’ estates and eight other people who filed crash-related claims with Pilgrim Insurance. Also being sued are Westfield Transport, its president, Dartanyan Gasanov, 34, and Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 23, the truck driver accused of causing the crash. Zhukovskyy has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail in New Hampshire.

“In an effort to ensure that the victims of this tragic accident receive the benefit of any insurance coverage to which they are entitled under the Pilgrim Insurance policy as expeditiously as possible, Pilgrim is following a procedure under federal law by which it can pay its policy proceeds into the court and have the court distribute the funds appropriately,” a company spokesman said in a statement Saturday.

At least four other crash-related lawsuits have been filed against Westfield Transport, court records show, including complaints brought by Mazza’s daughter, Brittany; his longtime partner, Mary Lou Welch; crash survivor Joshua Morin, 45, and his wife, Joy ; and the Corrs’ daughter, who represents her parents’ estate.

In July, state Attorney General Maura Healey announced she was investigating Westfield Transport. Speaking briefly to the Globe on Saturday evening, a Westfield Transport representative said he wasn’t aware of the Pilgrim Insurance lawsuit and expressed his sorrow over the tragedy. Peter Kestner, a lawyer in Minnesota who handles litigation over truck crashes and previously worked in the insurance industry, said the legal bills Pilgrim Insurance would face defending Westfield Transport would probably exceed the $1 million policy. “They are running away from this guy,” said Kestner, who reviewed the case at the Globe’s request but isn’t involved in any litigation related to the crash. “They are tendering the money to the court to extinguish their duty to defend despite the fact that there are lawsuits still out there.”

A federal law passed in 1980 requires at least $750,000 in liability insurance for trucking companies that do business across state lines and haul nonhazardous freight, Kestner said, though most operators working in that part of the industry have $1 million policies.
Pilgrim Insurance documents filed in the case provide a window into the finances of Westfield Transport, which ceased operating in early July. The company didn’t own any of its trucks outright and owned just one of the seven semitrailers it used to haul vehicles to car dealerships, mostly on the East Coast. Its most recent insurance policy cost a premium of more than $82,000 for one year of coverage, court records show. Two drivers were listed on the policy, Dartanyan Gasanov, and his brother, Dunyadar Gasanov, 35, a supervisor with Westfield Transport. Records obtained by the Globe, however, show six other people, including Zhukovskyy, were also driving Westfield Transport trucks while the policy was in effect.

The crash led to a scandal within the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles , which acknowledged it had failed to suspend Zhukovskyy’s commercial license before the collision when he refused a chemical breath test in East Windsor, Conn., on May 11 and was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The revelation exposed decades of failures at the Registry, which had been ignoring alerts from other states about Massachusetts drivers who broke their traffic laws. Dartanyan Gasanov, who is a defendant in two lawsuits brought by victims’ relatives, has cited the Registry scandal in court papers, saying that before he hired Zhukovskyy, the agency said he held a valid Massachusetts driving license.

In Zhukovskyy’s response to one lawsuit, he blamed the crash on acts of God “which were not attributable in any degree to the conduct of the defendant and not reasonably preventable by human foresight, strength or care." Investigators, however, have said Zhukovskyy was distracted and high on an unspecified drug at the time of the crash.
 
I saw this somewhere else and thought I'd post here. Disclosure: I'm a big fan of Forensic Files, so I'd be interested in the analysis done for this.

https://komonews.com/news/nation-world/defense-lawyer-in-death-of-7-motorcyclists-biker-at-fault

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — One of the motorcyclists in a crash that killed him and six fellow bikers on a north woods highway was drunk and actually was the one who hit a pickup and caused the accident, the lawyer for the truck driver charged with homicide said in a document made public Tuesday.


A New Hampshire State Police account of the June 21 crash in the community of Randolph "was deeply flawed," the lawyer for truck driver Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 24, of West Springfield, Massachusetts, said in a motion filed Friday that seeks a hearing to set him free on bail.

State police initially determined that the flatbed trailer he was hauling was 1 1/2 feet over the center line at the time of impact, the motion said. But the state recently disclosed a report from an independent accident reconstruction firm that challenges that assessment, according to the motion filed by defense lawyer Jay Duguay.

Zhukovskyy's vehicle was traveling west and the motorcyclists were traveling east on the two-lane road. Crash Labs "determined that the impact occurred directly over the center line" and that the motorcycle driven by Albert "Woody" Mazza Jr. "was in fact protruding over onto the center line when it struck the truck," according to the motion.


The initial impact occurred between the left side of Mazza's motorcycle and the left front tire of Zhukovskyy's truck, it said.

The report goes on to say that "the impact caused catastrophic air loss to the left front tire of the truck, which left a tire mark on the center line of the road," Duguay says in his motion. "This tire mark had initially been attributed to an 'unsuccessful avoidance maneuver' by Mr. Mazza, a position that the State has since retracted."

Prosecutors have an April 10 deadline to respond. The court will then determine whether a hearing on the motion will be scheduled.

"We are in receipt of the pleading that was filed on Friday evening and the State will be filing a written objection with the court," Kate Spiner, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office, said in a statement.

The motion notes the state also provided information showing that Mazza had been turned around looking back at the group of riders behind him just before the accident and that autopsy reports show that at the time of the crash, Mazza's blood-alcohol level was 0.135%, well above the legal limit of 0.08%.

Duguay requested the hearing so Zhukovskyy might be freed on bail, "given the dramatically different factual circumstances as they are known at this time."

Mazza, 59, of Lee, and the six others who died were members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club, a New England group that includes Marines and their spouses. The victims were from New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Mazza's common-law wife had sued the trucking company employing Zhukovskyy, saying it negligently hired him despite a troubled driving record.

Her attorney, Chuck Douglas, said he had not seen the Crash Labs report and couldn't comment on the bail motion.

Zhukovskyy is accused of driving under the influence of a controlled drug or drugs. In August, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said that a toxicology report showed Zhukovskyy tested positive for an unspecified drug that made him incapable of driving safely.

Zhukovskyy was indicted last year on multiple counts of negligent homicide and DUI. He has been in jail since and pleaded not guilty. Jury selection for his trial is scheduled for November.
 
R65_Steve - Looks like the judge denied the driver of the truck the ability to be released on bail. Here's an update from April 7, 2020 from the Boston Herald with much of the same information in your post:

"By LISA KASHINSKY | lkashinsky@bostonherald.com |
CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

PUBLISHED: April 7, 2020 at 12:35 p.m. | UPDATED: April 7, 2020 at 5:06 p.m.
A Superior Court judge has denied a request from Volodymyr Zhukovskyy for a hearing seeking potential release as he awaits trial in the fatal Randolph, N.H., motorcycle crash that killed seven bikers last June — siding with the state’s claim that Zhukovskyy has lengthy history of drug use and driving while impaired.
Judge Peter H. Bornstein agreed with the state’s argument that Zhukovskyy’s record shows he has a “pattern of illicit drug and alcohol use” in an order denying the hearing filed Tuesday.
“Based on the facts surrounding the crash on June 21, the fact that the defendant was on bail, the defendant’s drug use, and his prior criminal history, it is clear that only preventative detention will be sufficient to protect the public and the defendant,” prosecutors wrote.
Zhukovskyy’s public defenders filed a motion last week seeking a hearing based on a new report that alleges one of the bikers was under the influence at the time of the crash and that his motorcycle was over the center line of U.S. Route 2 where Zhukovskyy’s truck collided with the Jarheads Motorcycle Club members.
The new report cites discovery information claiming club president Albert Mazza Jr. had a blood alcohol level of 0.135, according to an autopsy report, and that he had been looking back at his fellow bikers just prior to the crash.
Zhukovskyy’s lawyers argued the new reconstruction report by independent firm Crash Labs shows the initial report by New Hampshire state police was “deeply flawed.” Zhukovskyy is being held without bail in New Hampshire as he awaits trial on 23 counts, including manslaughter and homicide charges, linked to the deadly collision.

But state prosecutors argued in their objection that nothing in the discovery “changes the fact that the defendant was impaired” on the day of the crash, saying his blood test showed fentanyl, morphine and benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine.
Prosecutors also cited a Zhukovskyy’s drug use and noted that one month prior to the deadly New Hampshire crash, Zhukovskyy was released on bail after being charged with driving under the influence in Connecticut.
“The defendant’s criminal history proves that he is a danger, and preventative detention is the only way the court can ensure the safety of the public, and the defendant,” state prosecutors said."
 
I saw this somewhere else and thought I'd post here. Disclosure: I'm a big fan of Forensic Files, so I'd be interested in the analysis done for this.

https://komonews.com/news/nation-world/defense-lawyer-in-death-of-7-motorcyclists-biker-at-fault

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — One of the motorcyclists in a crash that killed him and six fellow bikers on a north woods highway was drunk and actually was the one who hit a pickup and caused the accident, the lawyer for the truck driver charged with homicide said in a document made public Tuesday.


A New Hampshire State Police account of the June 21 crash in the community of Randolph "was deeply flawed," the lawyer for truck driver Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 24, of West Springfield, Massachusetts, said in a motion filed Friday that seeks a hearing to set him free on bail.

State police initially determined that the flatbed trailer he was hauling was 1 1/2 feet over the center line at the time of impact, the motion said. But the state recently disclosed a report from an independent accident reconstruction firm that challenges that assessment, according to the motion filed by defense lawyer Jay Duguay.

Zhukovskyy's vehicle was traveling west and the motorcyclists were traveling east on the two-lane road. Crash Labs "determined that the impact occurred directly over the center line" and that the motorcycle driven by Albert "Woody" Mazza Jr. "was in fact protruding over onto the center line when it struck the truck," according to the motion.


The initial impact occurred between the left side of Mazza's motorcycle and the left front tire of Zhukovskyy's truck, it said.

The report goes on to say that "the impact caused catastrophic air loss to the left front tire of the truck, which left a tire mark on the center line of the road," Duguay says in his motion. "This tire mark had initially been attributed to an 'unsuccessful avoidance maneuver' by Mr. Mazza, a position that the State has since retracted."

Prosecutors have an April 10 deadline to respond. The court will then determine whether a hearing on the motion will be scheduled.

"We are in receipt of the pleading that was filed on Friday evening and the State will be filing a written objection with the court," Kate Spiner, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office, said in a statement.

The motion notes the state also provided information showing that Mazza had been turned around looking back at the group of riders behind him just before the accident and that autopsy reports show that at the time of the crash, Mazza's blood-alcohol level was 0.135%, well above the legal limit of 0.08%.

Duguay requested the hearing so Zhukovskyy might be freed on bail, "given the dramatically different factual circumstances as they are known at this time."

Mazza, 59, of Lee, and the six others who died were members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club, a New England group that includes Marines and their spouses. The victims were from New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Mazza's common-law wife had sued the trucking company employing Zhukovskyy, saying it negligently hired him despite a troubled driving record.

Her attorney, Chuck Douglas, said he had not seen the Crash Labs report and couldn't comment on the bail motion.

Zhukovskyy is accused of driving under the influence of a controlled drug or drugs. In August, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said that a toxicology report showed Zhukovskyy tested positive for an unspecified drug that made him incapable of driving safely.

Zhukovskyy was indicted last year on multiple counts of negligent homicide and DUI. He has been in jail since and pleaded not guilty. Jury selection for his trial is scheduled for November.

Yes, I, too, would be interested in reading the report. If the report is valid, it might be a very teachable moment for the MC community.
 
Did you ever notice that other than the judge, of all those permitted to speak in the courtroom the only ones not sworn to "tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth" are the lawyers. Finding a so-called expert is easy for a criminal defense attorney. Telling the expert what you want to hear is also easy. Or should I say sleazy.
 
MC community has had too many of the same teachable moment. Drinking and riding main cause of fatalities.
 
MC community has had too many of the same teachable moment. Drinking and riding main cause of fatalities.

But, if the report is correct, that calls into question the initial reaction of the MC community (reference the first 13 pages of postings to this thread).
 
If the impairment/drugged/drunk reports from both driver and M/C rider are to believed, it shows that two bad decisions aligned to cause this tragedy. Yes a teachable moment!
 
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