Tierra Amarilla, NM (KKOB) – A $47 million award by a Rio Arriba County jury to a man and his mother who were involved in a horrible crash with a tanker truck four years ago near Carlsbad. Because of the crash, military veteran Austin Drewry was left with traumatic brain injuries and the need for round-the-clock care.
The award is one of the largest in a nonfatal crash in New Mexico history. Austin was just 21 and an oilfield worker when he was driving east on NM highway 128 near Carlsbad on a foggy night in November of 2022 when a commercial tanker truck crashed into him head-on. The truck driver was employed by a company out of Texas and was not a defendant in the case.
The crash caused extensive injuries to Drewry’s brain, spinal cord and internal organs. According to court records, the truck driver, was traveling above the 55 mph speed limit and had previously been disciplined by the company, Pilot Thomas Logistics, for speeding.
He is still bedridden and cannot talk or function on his own.
