Missouri City Settles Crash Lawsuit for $1.4M

Columbia, Mo., is paying $1.4 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of a 34-year-old man who died after his motorcycle collided with a city bus.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports that the city reached a deal last month with the family of Michael Heaston, who died in 2010, a day after his Harley-Davidson struck the side of a city bus.

The lawsuit alleged that the city bus driver was careless and negligent during the operation of the bus. The driver was convicted of careless and imprudent driving and received a suspended six-month sentence and two years of unsupervised probation.

Heaston, a father of three from Centralia, tried to swerve and avoid the collision when the bike struck the side of the bus.