Court Permits $450,000 Of Jury Award For Woman Severely Hurt In Motor Vehicle Accident When Riding Her Bicycle
So you were hurt in a motor vehicle accident. Yet you were in part, or maybe even, largely at fault for causing the accident. Will you be able to recover for your injuries? If so, how much? The response depends on the place the accident took place.
Regard, for instance, the published lawsuit wherein a 19 year old woman was hit by a motor vehicle as she was crossing an intersection with her bicycle. The force of the impact threw her from her bicycle and she was then hit and dragged by a second vehicle. She endured several major injuries including an injury to her leg. The leg injury required her to undergo an above the knee amputation. According to one report witnesses to the accident indicated that the plaintiff entered the intersection without stopping for the red light. The law firm that took the case published that it took the claim to trial and the jury concluded that the city and the first second driver were thirteen percent at fault and the second driver twelve percent at fault.
The jury determined that the bicyclist was seventy five percent at fault for the accident. In particular States the law does not allow plaintiffs with more than 50 percent fault to recover any damages. The law in the State where this accident took place permitted the plaintiff to recover even though the jury determined that she was more than 50% to blame for the accident. But according to the pertinent State law the amount she could get would only be proportional to her degree of fault. Thus, while the jury awarded $1.8 million, she was only able to recover twenty five percent, or $450,000.
Many people have the mistaken idea that if they were mostly at fault for a motor vehicle accident that they are not permitted to recover for their injuries. It is consequently important for anyone injured in a motor vehicle accident to consult with a skilled motor vehicle accident attorney in order to figure out if they are right in their view that they were mostly at fault or whether, legally, another person was actually at fault. And even in the event the plaintiff was really legally at fault for the accident, the attorney will advise them on whether the relevant laws would even so allow the plaintiff to recover, and if so, the way in which the sum be established.
Only an experienced lawyer can accurately assess a potential claim under the pertinent laws. Furthermore, an experienced lawyer will also be aware of the range of awards juries in the county where the claim would be tried usually award for the plaintiff