One place I wouldn't want to be right now is idling in the ever-present traffic jam on a stretch of Interstate 35 under construction just north of Gainesville near the Oklahoma border. Authorities say traffic's been down to one lane for weeks because the contractor working on a bridge project is progressing at a snail's pace. It's become a deadly situation for motorists. Twice in the last month, tractor-trailer drivers have plowed into the queue of cars, resulting in five deaths.

On July 5, 13-year-old Casey Hinkle and his 63-year-old grandfather Gervious Dale Hinkle were killed when their Ford Explorer was struck from behind by a tractor-trailer owned by Tulsa, Okla.-based Refrigerated Delivery Services Inc. On August 3, three people died when an 18-wheeler plowed into stopped traffic along the same stretch of the Interstate.

Noted truck accident attorney Steve Laird of Fort Worth's The Law Offices of Steven C. Laird has filed a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) and other defendants on behalf of the Melissa Hinkle, who was injured in the July 5 wreck that killed her son and father. A Texas state trooper told reporters that Mr. Crume failed to control the truck's speed before crashing into the Hinkle's vehicle and several others.

"Ms. Hinkle is filing this lawsuit with the hope that it will bring change and prevent something like this tragedy from happening to another family," says Mr. Laird. "Every defendant in this case had a hand in these unnecessary deaths, and we intend to make sure they are held accountable. This has to stop before more innocent people are killed."

This latest case was filed in Cooke County's 235th District Court in Gainesville the morning of Aug. 6 as Melissa J. Hinkle, et al. v. Randy Crume, et al., No. 09-00364. Mr. Laird has requested a jury trial to determine the defendants' liability. For more information on the lawsuit, please contact Bruce Vincent at 214-559-4630 or bruce@androvett.com.