Winnipeg cyclist’s family settles in fatal South Dakota truck crash

The family of a Winnipeg man who was fatally hit by a delivery truck during a charity bike ride in the U.S. has reached a settlement after filing a wrongful death lawsuit, court records show.

J.P. Petit, 53, was attempting to cycle about 1,350 kilometres to raise money for his granddaughter, who was born with a kidney disease, and Children’s Hospital of Winnipeg when he died in South Dakota in June 2022.

Petit’s wife, Carmelle, and three children — Marquis, Julien and Janique — filed a suit against the truck driver’s employer to seek compensation for financial and emotional losses.

The case was filed in a court in Delaware, where defendants Tri-State Wholesale Flooring and Crown Products (later renamed All Surfaces) were incorporated.

A settlement was reported to the court in February, records showed. Terms were not disclosed. A jury trial was scheduled to begin in about three weeks.

One of Petit’s children deferred comment to the family’s lawyer Thursday. Attorneys for the Petits and the defendants did not respond to requests for comment.

The settlement was reached after a judge denied the plaintiffs’ motion for a partial summary judgment in October.

In a written order, the judge said a dispute of facts, and questions about whether truck driver Mark Akkerman and/or Petit breached their “duties” under South Dakota laws should be put to a jury.

The collision happened on southbound Interstate 29, near Watertown, S.D., at about noon on June 9, 2022.

Court documents said the plaintiffs claimed Petit was cycling near the edge of the roadway in accordance with state law. They said the collision happened when Akkerman overtook Petit from behind.

The Petits accused Akkerman of, among other things, failing to keep a proper lookout and failing to allow for “sufficient and safe room” while passing the cyclist.

A court document said Akkerman, operating a Tri-Star truck, claimed he could not see Petit leading up to and at the time of the collision.

The document said Petit was wearing a helmet, black and grey gear, and a red backpack with a reflective arch and white writing, and his bike had a rear light under the seat.

In depositions, three other drivers gave varying estimates of how far they were from the cyclist when they first noticed him.

Where Petit was riding his bicycle on the roadway at the time of the collision was “a fact in dispute and should be left to the jury to decide,” the judge wrote in the October order.

The family’s complaint accused the defendants of negligence in their hiring, training and supervision of Akkerman.

Petit was a union representative with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 832.

Keeshea Turner Roberts, a lawyer and an assistant professor at Delaware Law School in Wilmington, Del., said civil courts, in general, prefer settlement agreements over trials.

Settlements reduce court workloads, saving time and resources, and they give the parties more control over the outcome compared with the uncertainty of a trial.

“Both parties may not be totally happy with the settlement agreement, but if you leave the decision up to a jury or judge, it may not turn out good for anyone,” Turner Roberts said. “A settlement allows you to kind of control things, somewhat, rather than leaving it up to six or 12 strangers who don’t know you.”

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca