Inset: James Johnson and his wife Lisa Johnson (The Portland Observer). Background: Oregon police at the scene of the U-Haul crash that left James and Lisa Johnson both dead (KGW/YouTube).
A U-Haul truck barreled down an Oregon road at 100 mph before slamming into a couple's SUV — killing both — after the rental giant put an "inexperienced" driver behind the wheel of a vehicle that lacked a speed limiter, a lawsuit says.
James Johnson, 64, and his wife, Lisa Johnson, 60, were both killed in October 2023 when Jaylon Benjamin, who was 30 at the time, struck their SUV while driving in Portland.
Benjamin was convicted by a Multnomah County jury in November 2024 and sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison. The speed limit on the road was 45 mph.
"Both James and Lisa Johnson died at the scene due to their injuries," the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office said in a press release announcing Benjamin's conviction. "Despite the defendant's claim that he was driving only 55 miles per hour, airbag control module data from the U-Haul shows he was in fact driving 100 miles per hour just two seconds before the crash, and then applied brakes one second before the crash, slowing to 80 miles per hour at the time of impact."
Benjamin was found guilty on all charges he faced, including manslaughter and reckless driving. A civil complaint filed by James and Lisa Johnson's estate against U-Haul and obtained by Law&Crime on Monday states that Benjamin was an "inexperienced driver" who was able to travel at 100 mph in the U-Haul because the truck lacked a speed limiter or governor.
The rental company also allegedly rented the U-Haul vehicle to Benjamin and sold him what it called liability insurance — even though the policy was not legitimate or backed by an Oregon-authorized self-insurer.
"Consequently, the vehicle could not be legally operated on Oregon roads," the complaint states. "But defendant U-Haul encouraged Benjamin to so operate the vehicle by representing that it had legal liability coverage and entrusted him to drive away with the vehicle when it knew or had reason to know that it could not be legally operated on the roadways."
According to the estate, U-Haul was ultimately negligent in multiple ways, including renting a moving truck that did not have a governor or other speed-limiting restriction to prevent it from traveling "so far in excess of the speed limit." The complaint alleges that it also failed to enforce "the mandatory safety policies created by U-Haul for purposes of protecting U-Haul property and others who may foreseeably be impacted by renters and operators of U-Haul property."
The estate is seeking up to $104 million in damages, including compensation for the couple's deaths and economic losses. A U-Haul spokesperson told Law&Crime that it does not comment on pending litigation.
Reached by phone on Monday, a U-Haul customer service representative told Law&Crime "we definitely do" when asked if a speed governor was installed in the company's moving trucks. "We put it in all of our trucks," the rep said.
An online customer service agent, however, told Law&Crime, "It looks like we do not employ governors in our trucks." They said that's what their manager told them after inquiring about it.