Insurer sues Fort Worth Transportation Authority over pedestrian’s death [Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas]

Feb. 25--FORT WORTH -- An insurance company sued the Fort Worth Transportation Authority on Friday over the 2010 death of a Haltom City woman who was struck and killed by a bus in downtown Fort Worth.

New Hampshire Insurance Co. seeks unspecified damages from the T and bus driver LeShawn Renea Vaughan. The company says in its lawsuit that it has paid "substantial" workers' compensation death benefits to the family of Judith Peterson, 61, an employee of XTO Energy who was struck by a Route 6 bus on July 27, 2010, as she crossed Houston Street.

"The T was negligent in entrusting its vehicle to a reckless and incompetent driver," says the lawsuit, which was filed in state district court in Tarrant County.

T officials hadn't seen the lawsuit and declined to comment, spokeswoman Joan Hunter said.

A police report released several months after the accident said Peterson stepped into the crosswalk during a "Don't Walk" signal. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver, whom police did not cite, was so shaken that she had to be hospitalized. She still works for the T, Hunter said.

The bus, westbound on Sixth Street, was turning south onto Houston. T buses were being routed through downtown to avoid the reconstruction of Ninth Street.

Peterson, a senior administrative assistant in XTO's planning department, had worked there since 1996.

She also took care of her infirm mother, collected clothes and school supplies for the needy, and stored food in the church pantry.

This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.

Gordon Dickson, 817-390-7796

Twitter: @gdickson

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