COLUMBIA SC Dec 27 2020— The collision that killed Ronald Seegars this fall was more than a chance accident between the 73-year-old Fort Lawn man’s Chevy Suburban and an armored truck, his family’s lawyers say.
Instead, it was the latest carnage to result from a pattern of safety shortcuts and irresponsible corporate behavior by the massive, armored truck company Garda, those attorneys argued in a wrongful death lawsuit filed this month.
“From everything we’ve learned, the general public should be … concerned when they see a Garda truck on the road,” said Hugh McAngus, a Columbia attorney who filed the Dec. 18 lawsuit on behalf of Seegars’ family.
According to that lawsuit, Garda — the world’s largest cash services and security company — put Seegars in harm’s way on that September day when it dispatched an unqualified driver in a truck that should have been out of service with mechanical issues.
The accusations echo an investigation earlier this year by the Tampa Bay Times that found shortcomings in the company’s vehicle maintenance and driver training have endangered motorists across the country. They take aim at a visible brand whose trucks can be seen ferrying cash to and from businesses in cities all over the United States.
Christopher Burton, the truck’s driver, didn’t have a commercial driver’s license, and his regular driver’s license was suspended at the time of the Sept. 2 crash in Union County, the Seegars family lawsuit states. The lawsuit alleges Burton was driving distracted before the collision.
Burton “could not legally operate a vehicle, let alone a commercial motor vehicle,” the lawsuit stated.
And the truck he drove should have failed inspection for a series of mechanical issues, including three rear tires with inadequate tread depth and a radiator that was not properly bolted to the truck’s frame, according to the complaint.
In a written statement to The Post and Courier, Garda said it extends its “sincerest condolences to the family of Ronald Seegers,” misspelling the man’s name.
The company, based in Boca Raton, Fla., said it has invested heavily in the last four years to purchase hundreds of new vehicles, equip them with new technology, improve their maintenance and train their drivers.
Garda said it ensures its employees have the right tools and training to do their jobs safely. Garda workers are trained to regularly inspect their vehicles and report any conditions that render them unsafe, the company said.
Garda said it would not comment on an ongoing legal matter or provide information “regarding current or past employees.”
The Seegars’ lawsuit highlights the potential danger posed by armored trucks when they aren’t kept up to safety standards or operated by well-trained drivers.
Armored trucks offer their drivers less visibility of the road and their surroundings. They are heavier, take longer to stop and are more difficult to maneuver. Their weight also makes them more destructive in collisions, the lawsuit said.
In March, the Tampa Bay Times found Garda trucks regularly lacked reliable brakes and seatbelts. Hundreds of people have been involved in crashes with Garda vehicles across the country, and 22 have died, the Times found.
The Seegars’ lawsuit cited a November 2016 memo from a Garda risk management executive that raised concerns about the company’s alleged failure to monitor its workers’ use of cellphones while driving, maintenance deficiencies in armored trucks, a lack of enforcement or accountability after problems are identified and a pattern of redeploying drivers immediately after they were involved with a crash.
“My fear is that serious injuries and deaths have occurred due to known failures within the organization, and/or will continue to occur, as a result of practices that may rise to the level of careless or wanton,” the whistleblower wrote.
According to his obituary, Seegars was a former executive vice president of the Lancaster and Chester Railway. He loved trips to the beach, Pat Conroy books, and attending plays and concerts with his family.
He was driving with his daughter Savannah along S.C. Highway 9 near Jonesville on the evening of the crash. Meanwhile, Burton was traveling toward them from Highway 114. Burton, who was dispatched out of Greenville, was using his cell phone for directions on the unfamiliar route because his 2005 armored truck didn’t have built-in GPS navigation, the lawsuit said.
At the intersection of highways 9 and 114, the lawsuits alleges, Burton didn’t keep his eyes on the road, failed to brake properly and neglected to yield to Seegars as required.
He instead pulled the armored truck into the intersection and in the direct path of Seegars’ SUV, “causing a violent collision in which the Suburban rolled over and came to rest on the side of the highway, in the brush and beyond the intersection,” the lawsuit states.
Seegars was in cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived. He was flown in a medical helicopter to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, where he died three days later from his injuries, the
His family is seeking unspecified damages from Garda.
The company would not say whether it continues to employ Burton.
The lawsuit says federal regulators had already warned Garda multiple times that the company was out of compliance with safety standards and needed to make improvements.
McAngus said the family’s attorneys expect to learn more about alleged shortcomings by the company that contributed to Seegars’ death.
“It’s rare that you have one of those cases that you feel like you’re seeing the tip of the iceberg and there is more under the surface,” he said.
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