Elderly Woman Endures Fractures As A Pedestrian And Recovers $300,000
It is simply amazing the way in which individuals can try to absolve themselves of responsibility in cases when they are plainly at fault for having caused an accident.
For example, look at one reported matter in which a 71 year old female was the victim of a motor vehicle accident. She was a pedestrian who was hit by a van. As a result of the accident she suffered a fracture to the right occipital bone (the bone located at the lower back of the skull). The woman additionally endured fractures to her right knee. Her knee injury required an open reduction with internal fixation. Further, the victim sustained a subdural hematoma. She was half-way through a crosswalk. The crosswalk was controlled by a traffic light when she was struck. The vehicle that hit the victim had been stopped for a red light before going into the intersection. The woman alleged that at the time she started crossing the crosswalk the traffic control signal was steady and turned to a flashing red light during the time she was in the crosswalk and was hit by the driver.
The driver claimed that he did not go the intersection until the light turned green for him. The driver even produced two bystanders to state that the light was green for the driver at the time the accident took place. A lot of people, even some lawyers, might look at this as the type of claim that would most likely end in a defense verdict. Hence, many attorneys would decline to represent the victim in such a lawsuit. The facts are against the plaintiff. Or are they?
There was a law firm that did agree to represent the victim. The strategy they took with the case was to argue that despite whether the defendant had a green light or not, the plaintiff was already in the middle of the crosswalk and thereby had the right of way when the defendant entered the crosswalk. He ought to have been focused on the victim in front of him rather than with the traffic light to his left. By taking this strategy the law firm reported that it was succeeded in getting a settlement a little bit before trial for $300,000, the full extent of the van