Blog Post

U-Haul Charged in a Wrongful Death Lawsuit


September 17, 2007
Topic: Wrongful Death

The widow and family of a 68-year-old California resident who died trying to save a U-Haul worker have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Phoenix based company.

Demetrio Nagtalon, a resident of Daly City, California had rented a U-Haul truck to move equipment from his video store. When he noticed the parking brake malfunctioning, he brought the truck back to the U-Haul rental center in San Francisco, California. As Nagtalon watched, an employee slid under the dashboard to fix the problem. The worker, Bobby Johnson, neglected to shut off the engine, and parked the truck on an incline without bothering to block the wheels. When the truck suddenly began to roll down, Nagtalon, in an attempt to rescue Johnson, became trapped between the truck and a steel pillar. He suffered severe pelvic injuries and massive internal bleeding. He succumbed to his injuries a couple of hours later.

In the lawsuit, Nagtalon's family alleges that U-Haul and Johnson were negligent in keeping the engine running, putting the truck inpark, and conducting repair work at an unsafe location. U-Haul, the country's largest renter of trucks and trailers, however, puts the blame for the accident squarely on Nagtalon. He had no business placing "his safety at risk in a situation where his services were not required," the company said. This callous statement does not seem to take into consideration that the worker was in violation several auto safety rules. In fact, many former U-Haul employees say it's not uncommon for untrained mechanics to perform repairs at the company in an attempt to keep trucks moving and on the road.

The Los Angeles Times in a series of investigations had brought several safety issues at U-Haul to light. Many of the 100,000 trucks in the U-Haul fleet, it said, were aging, and the company did not have set maintenance standards for its fleet. Negligence in this case seems to have been the primary cause for Nagtolan's accident. To say that Nagtalon shouldn't have jumped in to rescue Johnson and that he was responsible for his own death is to add insult to this already tragic situation.

A wrongful death lawsuit can be filed in situations where a death occurs as a result of another person's negligence. If you have lost a loved one due to the carelessness of another, you might be entitled to compensation. Call the wrongful death attorneys at The Reeves Law Group for a consultation.


The California personal injury attorneys at The Reeves Law Group represent victims of accidents, injuries and wrongful death throughout California from our offices in Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Diego County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, Ventura County, Fresno County, Kern County, Sacramento County, San Fernando Valley, Long Beach, Antelope Valley, Torrance, Glendale, Bakersfield, Santa Ana, San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, Ontario, and Victorville.