A motorcyclist who suffered a brain injury when a tractor-trailer crashed into him in May 2005 has settled his claim against Allied Systems and its driver for $6.5 million.


A truck driver, who was both the owner-operator of a tractor-trailer and an employee of Allied Systems, drove to a repair shop to have the brakes on his tractor replaced. When he arrived, the shop was closed. The driver then proceeded to pick up a load that Allied Systems had dispatched him on earlier that morning, according to a press release by Page Law, the firm representing the motorcyclist.

En route, the tractor-trailer crashed into the back of a motorcycle that was allegedly slowing or stopped on the highway in Benton County, Mo. The 48-year-old motorcyclist suffered permanent brain injuries as a result.

The motorcyclist claimed the brakes on the tractor-trailer were defective and that both the driver and the company, as the driver's employer, were liable.

The case was filed in the city of St. Louis, but Allied Systems filed for bankruptcy in Georgia. Once the bankruptcy judge granted permission to proceed with the Missouri case, a St. Louis City Circuit Court judge transferred the case to Benton County.