Houston Chronicle

April 16, 1998

 

Family of man killed in fiery I-45 crash files suit

By Ron Nissimov

 

The family of a 46 year old Conroe man who was one of three people killed by a truck on the North Freeway last month filed suit Thursday against the trucking company and its driver.

 

The family's lawyer, John Tavormina, said it is the first lawsuit filed because of the March 16 accident, which also killed two Woodlands High School students.

 

The state district suit was filed by Vicki Duke, widow of Dennis Wayne Duke. Their 6- year- old daughter, Marisa, is also a plaintiff.

 

The Dukes are seeking unspecified damages from trucking company U. S. Fleet Services, based in Horsham, PA., and truck driver Mark Zweifel. Neither defendant could be reached for comment.

 

"We need to crack down on unsafe trucks and untrained drivers." Tavormina said about the recent spate of serious accidents involving trucks on local freeways.

On Feb. 12, four people died on the Gulf Freeway when an 18-wheeler ran into the back of a chain-reaction collision.

 

On April 9, the driver of a tanker truck was killed when his rig toppled over and exploded on a ramp and overpass from the Eastex Freeway to the North Loop 610 westbound lanes.

 

"I didn't know him before he died but he sure sounded like a good person," Tavormina said about Dennis Duke.

 

He said the vocational rehabilitation specialist was on his way to see a client when the accident occurred.

 

Tavormina said Zweifel apparently sideswiped the right guard rail on the northbound lanes of the North Freeway, careened across the north-bound lanes into a median divider and flipped over into the southbound lanes near Spring Steubner Road in north Harris County.

 

The truck apparently landed first on Duke's car and "crushed his head" the attorney said.

 

The truck then bounced into the air over the car before flattening another car, killing the two 17-year old Woodlands students, Amy Friederichs and Abigail Dewees.

Tavormina said he has heard that Zweifel sustained minor burns after the truck exploded, but he has not been able to determine the extent of the truck driver's injuries. The truck was carrying gasoline.

 

The lawyer said eyewitnesses reported that Zweifel's truck was weaving as far as 10 miles south of the crash scene.

 

He said authorities have determined Zweifel was not drunk at the time, but they have refused to release more information in case they proceed with criminal charges.