$541,000 Settlement for Automobile Accident
- Date: Spring 2002
- Attorney: Mitchell Makowicz
- Settlement: $541,000
- Practice Areas: Motor Vehicle Accident, Commercial Vehicle Accident
As our 47-year-old client was driving an unattached truck cab in the left lane of a state highway, an accident unfolded in front of him. Two trucks were driving in front of him side-by-side, while a flatbed pickup truck with two large refuse barrels in back entered the highway from an entrance ramp on the right.
Suddenly, one of the barrels fell off the flatbed and bounced toward the other two trucks, causing them to swerve and strike each other. Our client, traveling at 55 miles per hour in a large tractor, reacted immediately and instinctively to avoid striking the two trucks by swerving onto the center median. When he did so, his truck instead plowed directly into a concrete bridge abutment, causing the front of the cab to collapse onto his leg. He sustained a very serious open leg fracture, which required a number of surgeries to adequately repair, and could not return to work for over two years. He was left with a limp and arthritis in the knee joint.
The case settled for a total of approximately $541,000, a component of which is an annuity that will make guaranteed monthly payments to our client for the rest of his life.