Mack Truck Fire Causes Deaths Design Flaw Pin-Pointed In Fiery Fatal Explosion on 7-Mile Bridge

MIAMI, FL—In the late afternoon of October 3, 2005, as Syed Zaidi operated his 2000 Mack Truck, he was en route to Key West.  Zaidi was doing his job delivering fuel. 

The serene tropical beauty of his surroundings on the 7-Mile Bridge was horribly interrupted as a Miamian, Rafael Gonzalez, who was heading northbound in a borrowed Dodge Durango pulled out into the oncoming Mack truck’s path in an attempt to pass the car in front of him and collided with Zaidi, and suddenly that serene beauty turned into an explosion likened to the images of bombs that we see on television news nearly nightly.

During the crash sequence, the 2000 Mack Truck’s fuel tank and battery were impacted, causing an explosion that engulfed the truck in flames.  Zaidi was trapped in the truck’s cab and was burned to death.   Rafael Gonzalez in the Dodge Durango, who had made the attempt to pass, was part of the instant inferno and he died at the scene as well.  The fire took several hours to bring under some control.

Investigation has discovered that the Mack truck’s battery box located on the outside of the frame rails and in close proximity to the fuel tank created an ignition source allowing the fuel to be ignited.  But for the negligent design location of the truck’s battery the gasoline would not have ignited and Mr. Zaidi would be alive today.

“By negligently designing, marketing and selling a truck with the knowledge that the truck’s battery box was within inches of its fuel tank, which would allow an ignition source in the event of a collision, Mack Trucks has compromised public safety and exposed its drivers  to unnecessary and unreasonable risks.  In the case of Mr. Zaidi, that negligence and carelessness on the part of Mack Trucks caused his death,” said Ted Leopold, senior partner in the Palm Beach Gardens-based law firm of Ricci~Leopold, who is representing Mr. Zaidi’s widow, Tayyaba Zaidi. 

“It is reprehensible that Mack Trucks failed to adequately test and evaluate the integrity of the fuel storage and battery system in a foreseeable collision. Now a hard-working, devoted husband and father of four is dead,” said Leopold.  “Beyond that these trucks expose other individuals and families in other vehicles to unsafe conditions – it’s a bomb basically waiting to be detonated.  Justice requires that this company take responsibility for this truck’s unsafe and hazardous,” said Leopold.

“We are committed to obtaining justice for Mr. Zaidi’s family in this trial and holding Mack Trucks accountable for their negligence, and are working to help heighten the consumer awareness level and official safety level about these vehicles being on the road and the risks they pose to others,” Leopold concluded.

Ted Leopold is a senior partner in the law firm of Ricci~Leopold, P.A. As consumer justice advocates, the attorneys at Ricci~Leopold pursue justice for those who are harmed by the misconduct of insurance companies and corporations.  The firm, founded in 1982, has six attorneys and is headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, with offices located at 2925 PGA Blvd.  Mr. Leopold can be contacted at (561) 684-6500.  Additional information about Ricci~Leopold, P.A. may be obtained from the firm’s website at www.riccilaw.com

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