Distracted Driver Compensates Pedestrian $1.2 Million For Significant Injuries
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-11-01 22:27:57 | Word Count: 552
There are multiple ways in which drivers can become distracted, confused or disoriented. The problem, clearly, is that they are operating a multi-ton piece of machinery that can cause permanent damage, particularly to pedestrians. And it can occur in an instant. One instant that can completely change the life of the victim.
Consider the reported case wherein the driver who was accountable for the motor vehicle accident was an elderly female. She was attempting to park her car in a diagonal parking space of a mall parking lot. Somehow she lost her focus and instead of hitting the brake hit the accelerator pedal. Her car plunged onto the sidewalk where a female was walking and plowed her right through a plate glass store window.
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The victim had to spend 9 days in the hospital for a compression fracture of the tibia (a major bone in the leg), tears of multiple major knee ligaments, and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). She needed open reduction surgery with internal fixation for the leg fracture. After the hospital stay she required two weeks at a rehabilitation facility after which she had to undergo intense physical therapy. The plaintiff then required a second surgery a year later so as to remove the metal in her leg. Even then her ordeal was still not over. She needed a third surgery in the following year to repair the knee ligaments. Then she had to get still more physical therapy
The woman could not go back to work for six months. When the victim did return to work the plaintiff needed the use of a cane for 6 months. The woman will likely never be able to be active in several sports which she liked before the accident. She will most probably require a knee replacement within ten years. A young person's ability to enjoy her life permanently altered.
The plaintiff incurred approximately $150,000 in medical expenses and her earning capacity dropped by roughly fifty thousand dollars. The law firm that handled this lawsuit documented that they obtained a $1.2 million settlement on behalf of the victim.
Matters just like this one occur all too frequently. Sometimes it is a cell phone. Regardless of the reason even a brief loss of focus can result in a devastating outcome.
As this lawsuit illustrates the damage that might result from even an instant of confusion in a driver may be ruinous. Handling these matters calls for knowledge of the nature of the damages, determined the type and extent of medical treatment the victim will need sometimes for the rest of his or her life, the value of the loss of earning capacity, in adition to the plaintiff's pain and suffering. Furthermore it requires having a thorough knowledge of insurance issues and the ability to uncover and go after assets that might go toward any recovery. The settlement or award can be substantial but requires experience and skill on the part of the lawyer.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney accepting motor vehicle accident cases. To learn more about pedestrian accident cases and about other vehicle accident cases including truck accident matters visit the websites
