Southern Tire Mart says it is not responsible in any way for the death of a cyclist during the 2019 Bikes, Blues & Bayous ride.
The company has responded to a lawsuit filed against it and four other organizations by the family of cyclist Jim O’Daniel.
The lawsuit, which was filed on Oct. 12, asks for unspecified compensatory and punitive damages against Southern Tire Mart, as well as the Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce, the city of Greenwood, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety and the Mississippi Highway Patrol.
O’Daniel, 50, a civil engineer and cyclist from Clinton, was one of about 1,000 people participating in the 2019 ride, the largest of its kind in the state.
His family accuses the defendants of various acts of negligence that they say contributed either directly or indirectly to his death.
O’Daniel was biking when he approached the intersection of U.S. 82 and Mississippi 7 in Itta Bena. He proceeded into the intersection, where he was fatally struck by a Southern Tire pickup truck driven by Edward Hibbler, the lawsuit said.
The 16-page complaint, which is one side of a legal argument, accused Hibbler of driving the vehicle in a reckless or negligent manner.
In a response filed by Southern Tire Mart with the Leflore County Circuit Court on Jan. 5, the company says the vehicle being operated by its driver was done “in a careful and prudent manner, at a lawful and reasonable rate of speed, that the driver was keeping a reasonable and proper lookout” and he was following state driving laws.
Furthermore, the company, whose corporate office is in Columbia, asserts that the “contributing cause of the accident was the negligence of Jim O’ Daniel” or the acts of the other organizations involved.
This is similar to the chamber’s response, which was filed last month. The local business organization states that “the sole proximate cause” of any damages comes from the negligent acts of O’Daniel, adding that the chamber “exercised the required care, caution and prudence” for the event without breaching any duty owed to the rider.
The chamber also says O’Daniel “assumed the risk of his actions” and the family’s legal complaint is barred by a release that he signed, thus waiving his right to seek legal action against the chamber.
As of Tuesday morning, Southern Tire Mart and the chamber were the only parties to have filed responses to the complaint.
• Contact Adam Bakst at 581-7233 or abakst@gwcommonwealth.com. On Twitter at @AdamBakst_GWCW.
