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Texas jury hits Omaha trucking company with $89.6M verdict

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A jury in Texas has issued a nearly $90 million verdict against Omaha trucking company Werner Enterprises.

The award was handed down Thursday in a lawsuit brought by the family of a Houston boy who died in a 2014 crash with a Werner truck on Interstate 20 in Texas.

Werner says it will appeal the $89.6 million verdict.

Seven-year-old Zack Blake died in the crash, and his 12-year-old sister suffered a traumatic brain injury that left her a quadriplegic. The children’s mother, Jennifer Blake, and an older son were seriously injured.

The lawsuit says Werner disregarded safety policies during a winter storm that produced freezing rain.

But Werner says it was the Blake family pickup truck that went out of control, crossed a median and hit the Werner truck. Werner says the semitrailer was traveling well below the posted speed limit at the time of the crash.

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