Lawsuit claims INDOT responsible for fatal crash

The wife of a man killed in a head-on collision on State Road 135 two years ago is suing the Indiana Department of Transportation, saying the agency’s failure to properly maintain the road led to her husband’s death.

Charles Stigall was driving on State Road 135 near Trafalgar in December 2014 when his truck was hit head-on by a truck going the opposite direction that had entered his lane, the lawsuit said. Charles Stigall’s son, Clay Stigall, and the driver of the other vehicle, Joshua Scott, were both injured in the crash.

The lawsuit, filed last month in Johnson County Superior Court 1, claims that the history of car crashes on that stretch of road should have led INDOT to make safety improvements, such as adding center-line rumble strips, warning signs at the curve near where the crash took place and widening the road, the lawsuit said.

The state’s carelessness and negligence in failing to make these improvements led to Stigall’s death, the lawsuit said.

INDOT officials declined to comment on the lawsuit. Will Wingfield, an INDOT spokesperson, said the agency doesn’t comment on active litigation.

Allegations in a civil lawsuit are the opinion of the person filing, and may be refuted at trial.

The lawsuit requests an unspecified amount of damages for Stigall’s family, including his wife and two sons, who live in Morgantown.

Roy Tabor, the attorney representing the Stigall family, said prior crashes on the stretch of State Road 135 in southwest Johnson County between Trafalgar and Morgantown, as well as complaints from area residents, should have alerted INDOT officials of the need for safety upgrades, Tabor said.

Tabor described the crash as tragic.

“It was a tough time for these two boys to lose a father,” he said.

INDOT failed to provide centerline rumbles strips, adequate warning signs, a paved shoulder for drivers to avoid encroaching traffic and appropriate speed advisory signs, the lawsuit said. INDOT also failed to properly bank or contour the roadway, widen or upgrade the road in light of collision history and exercise reasonable care to provide and maintain public roadways in a reasonably safe condition, the lawsuit said.

Since 2004, at least a dozen drivers have been killed on the section of State Road 135 between State Road 44 and Trafalgar, police have said.

In the last two years, the state has made improvements, such as rumble strips in the centerline, which were installed between Morgantown and Bargersville. The strips notify drivers that their vehicle is crossing over into the opposite lane in order to prevent head-on collisions.

Had those rumble strips been in place in 2014, they could have prevented the crash that killed Stigall, Tabor said.

“Unfortunately, there weren’t changes made until after Mr. Stigall died,” he said. “And we are certainly glad to see changes made.”

The lawsuit was filed nearly two years after the fatal crash in order to collect evidence prior to the two-year deadline to sue, he said. An insurance claim against Scott was settled without litigation. An undisclosed amount was paid without Scott admitting any responsibility for the crash, Tabor said.