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Chris Soules Arrested

jbhtexas

jbhtexas

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Oct 20, 2006
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Al_4_State said:
The civil suit will be far worse for him than the criminal consequences, if it happens. He'll likely spend a little time behind bars, and have a significant probation/parole period, but he's going to get taken to the cleaners civilly. Assuming the deceased's family files a wrongful death suit (I wouldn't guarantee that).
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If the family files a wrongful death suit, they had better be prepared for a battle.

My family was involved in a somewhat similar incident many years ago. Our hired hand was driving home a full grain truck with a full gravity box in tow on a country road late in the evening. Something went wrong with the truck and he pulled over to the side of the road, and was subsequently hit by a drunk driver in a pickup. Our hired hand was slightly injured, and the pickup driver was badly hurt, but recovered. Our gravity box and his pickup were totaled.

The pickup driver was cited for drunk driving. Even so, his insurance company came after us hard, I'm assuming because they didn't want to pay for medical expenses or a new gravity box. They went after our maintenance records, lighting and signage of our rig, character of our hired hand, etc. In the end, all they could find was that the Slow Moving Vehicle sign on the gravity box may have been obstructed by one or two tarp straps, and they couldn't make a case of it, but it dragged out for over a year.

This accident involved a smaller tractor. The defense would probably raise issues as to whether it was properly marked/lighted for road use, was the roll guard in place, was the driver using the seat belt (if the tractor had a factory seat belt), etc. IMO, it's not a slam dunk that a civil suit is going to garner a big settlement.
 
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cyhiphopp

cyhiphopp

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jbhtexas said:
If the family files a wrongful death suit, they had better be prepared for a battle.

My family was involved in a somewhat similar incident many years ago. Our hired hand was driving home a full grain truck with a full gravity box in tow on a country road late in the evening. Something went wrong with the truck and he pulled over to the side of the road, and was subsequently hit by a drunk driver in a pickup. Our hired hand was slightly injured, and the pickup driver was badly hurt, but recovered. Our gravity box and his pickup were totaled.

The pickup driver was cited for drunk driving. Even so, his insurance company came after us hard, I'm assuming because they didn't want to pay for medical expenses or a new gravity box. The went after our maintenance records, lighting and signage of our rig, character of our hired hand, etc. In the end, all they could find was that the Slow Moving Vehicle sign on the gravity box may have been obstructed by one or two tarp straps, and they couldn't make a case of it, but it dragged out for over a year.

This accident involved a smaller tractor. The defense would probably raise issues as to whether it was properly marked/lighted for road use, was the roll guard in place, was the driver using the seat belt (if the tractor had a factory seat belt), etc. IMO, it's not a slam dunk that a civil suit is going to garner a big settlement.
Click to expand...

It's sad but true. You want the law to work this way for the innocent, but it often works just as well or better for the guilty who have good lawyers.
 
  • Agree
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Clonefan32

Clonefan32

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Nov 19, 2008
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I see both sides of the argument. On one hand, I can't think of a rational reason to leave the scene and hole yourself up unless your trying to sober up. On the other hand, having never been involved in a deadly crash, I can't even speculate as to how I'd react.
 
cyhiphopp

cyhiphopp

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Farnsworth said:
Was he the actual Bachelor, or just a contestant on the Bachelorette?
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According to wikipedia, he was 3rd place on The Bachelorette and got to be the Bachelor on a season after that. He was also on Dancing with the Stars I guess?
 
M

madguy30

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Nov 15, 2011
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carvers4math said:
Even if the tractor had no lights and reflectors, what about Soules? From pictures, it looks like a flat area. If it was dark enough that the lighting was bad, wouldn't he need headlights on?
Click to expand...

I've been right where the incident occurred many times...it was a hot spot for 4th of July fireworks years ago because you could see them from very far away.

As a driver you've have to either not be able to see, or not paying any attention to anything within about 2 miles to not see some form or object ahead of you. although it looks like it was on a curve too. OR going too fast to be able to respond correctly if only your low beams were on.

Going by what they listed from his previous citations since high school, it may have been all of the above.
 
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VTXCyRyD

VTXCyRyD

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Sep 2, 2010
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NickTheGreat said:
It was actually the size of tractor that allows you to legally hit, kill the driver, and flee the scene of the accident.

:rolleyes:
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Serious question. I kind of want to know if the guy was thrown and crushed or what happened. It is also not so unusual for older small tractors to have lights that don't work.
 
CloneinWDSM

CloneinWDSM

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Aug 9, 2013
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I guess another question I have. He obviously called for help from his family at least a few minutes before calling the cops as his family was on the scene when he called.
 
wxman1

wxman1

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jbhtexas said:
If the family files a wrongful death suit, they had better be prepared for a battle.

My family was involved in a somewhat similar incident many years ago. Our hired hand was driving home a full grain truck with a full gravity box in tow on a country road late in the evening. Something went wrong with the truck and he pulled over to the side of the road, and was subsequently hit by a drunk driver in a pickup. Our hired hand was slightly injured, and the pickup driver was badly hurt, but recovered. Our gravity box and his pickup were totaled.

The pickup driver was cited for drunk driving. Even so, his insurance company came after us hard, I'm assuming because they didn't want to pay for medical expenses or a new gravity box. The went after our maintenance records, lighting and signage of our rig, character of our hired hand, etc. In the end, all they could find was that the Slow Moving Vehicle sign on the gravity box may have been obstructed by one or two tarp straps, and they couldn't make a case of it, but it dragged out for over a year.

This accident involved a smaller tractor. The defense would probably raise issues as to whether it was properly marked/lighted for road use, was the roll guard in place, was the driver using the seat belt (if the tractor had a factory seat belt), etc. IMO, it's not a slam dunk that a civil suit is going to garner a big settlement.
Click to expand...

Sadly I have to agree. I have a buddy who was hit and nearly killed on his motorcycle a little over a year ago. They are not going after the guy for a ton (to my knowledge...not my business so I don't ask details) and they anticipate it will take at least 2-4 more months.
 
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