Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
The following blog entry is written to illustrate how a car accident lawsuit might follow. Reviewing this kind of case should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.
(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this car accident lawsuit and its proceedings.)
CLAIMED INJURIES
According to Plaintiff: Severe head injuries as well as non-life threatening physical injuries; originally conscious after being airlifted to Sacramento County Medical Center; lapsed into vegetative state one week after brain surgery and lingered in that condition for 13 months before death.
CLAIMED DAMAGES
According to Plaintiff: $775,079 medical specials; $342,825 lost income and household services.
COMMENTS
According to Plaintiff: Initial evaluation of the case by accident reconstructionists concluded that it was impossible to tell in which lane the initial impact between Merry’s pickup and the Travis rig occurred. There was no question that the second impact between the pickup and the second ABC truck occurred in the westbound lane of traffic.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.
Defendants almost prevailed on a motion for summary judgment, losing only because the court ruled that an arguable dying declaration (Merry shaking his head ‘No‘ when asked if he caused the accident before he lapsed into a coma), created a triable issue of material fact. Only through very substantial subsequent accident reconstruction efforts–combining analysis of the damage patterns on the vehicles with studies projecting the dynamic movements of the vehicles following different accident impact configurations–was the theory developed that Travis had crossed over the line and Merry was attempting to avoid the danger posed by his rig. Four days after the verdict, the case settled for $4 million.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins