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Fatal crash spurs $3 million suit Jackson County, Medford nursery accused of negligence in wake of 1999 car accident By CHRIS BRISTOL The family of a Medford man who died in a car crash last year has sued a local nursery for more than $3 million, alleging that the company's two illegally parked trucks caused the accident. John Ashley, a 29-year-old Southern Oregon University student and Desert Storm veteran, was killed March 12, 1999, when his compact Ford Festiva was broadsided on the driver's side by another motorist at the intersection of Stewart Avenue and Lozier Lane. Jackson County installed two stop signs on Stewart Avenue six months after the accident. Ashley was survived by his wife, Nicole Thomas, and three children. In a lawsuit filed Monday in Jackson County Circuit Court, the Ashley family blamed the accident on Good Earth Nursery & Landscape Co. of Medford. The lawsuit also names Jackson County as a co-defendant. Ashley was heading south on Lozier Lane, which forms a T-style intersection at Stewart Avenue just outside Medford's southwestern city limits. He was trying to turn onto Stewart. The lawsuit accuses Good Earth's employees of negligence for allegedly parking the two truck-trailers in a no-parking zone at the corner, blocking visibility and creating a hazard for motorists using Lozier Lane. The complaint says Ashley had to edge forward into Stewart Avenue to see around the rigs, causing the accident. It also accuses the county of negligence, contending the no-parking zone was not adequately maintained or enforced and that the county should have towed Good Earth's truck before the accident occurred. Ashley's family seeks $2.5 million in economic and non-economic damages. They also seek another $500,000 for Ashley's physical and emotional suffering stemming from the crash and $10,000 in medical and funeral expenses. County counsel Mike Jewett declined comment Friday. Good Earth owner Vaughn Jones was out of town and unavailable for comment, according to the nursery manager. Six months after the accident, the county installed stop signs on Stewart, making it a three-way intersection. County officials said the decision was prompted by traffic backups on Lozier, not the accident. The intersection had a reputation for being dangerous, in part because of parking problems at a country market at the corner. Witnesses said two truck-trailers were parked at the market at the time of the accident, making it difficult to see around the corner. A spokesman for the Medford Police Department, which investigated the crash, could not be reached for comment Friday. Ashley was a junior at SOU, where he made the spring 1998 dean's list. He also worked evenings at Providence Medford Medical Center as an obstetric technician and part-time at Rogue Valley Medical Center. A veteran of Desert Storm, he served in the Navy for six years and was a medic in the Marines. At the time of his death, he was enrolled in an officers candidate school for the Oregon Army National Guard. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA