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Automobile, Truck & Motorcycle Accidents
- Tractor Trailer Accident On Interstate 95
- Bus Driver Settles His Claim For 5 Million Dollars While Jury Deliberates in Richmond Circuit Court.
- Drunk Driving - Punitive Damages Verdict Upheld
- Twelve-Year-Old Girl Injured in a Boating Accident on Smith Mountain Lake Settles for $303,500
- Car accident claims life of Henrico County resident
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Automobile, Truck & Motorcycle Accidents
Automobile, Truck & Motorcycle Accidents
Tractor Trailer Accident On Interstate 95
A Maryland man was killed this week when the tractor trailer he was driving crashed into a vehicle stopped at a construction zone causing a six-car pileup. The fatal vehicle accident occured on Northbound I-95 at exit 35 in Maryland. One driver was injured and had to be transported by ambulance to the hospital for leg injuries. A major gas spill closed the roadway for several hours after the accident.Bus Driver Settles His Claim For 5 Million Dollars While Jury Deliberates in Richmond Circuit Court.
A bus driver settled his personal injury claim for 5 millions dollars while the jury was deliberating during a trial in Richmond Circuit Court. Terry Shoemaker, age 56, was driving a group of high school seniors to Disney World when he was involved in a terrible accident with a tractor trailer, causing Shoemaker to lose his lower left leg and foot. The defense argued contributory negligence. However, plaintiff’s counsel successfully moved the Court to exclude the defense’s accident reconstruction expert. Shoemaker’s past and future medical expenses totaled $457,000 and his lost earnings and lost earnings capacity totaled $350,000. Today, Shoemaker still drives buses with the aid of an artificial leg but his ability to walk is limited on certain terrain. During trial, the jury saw a video of Shoemaker on crutches escorting his daughter down the aisle at her wedding with others there to catch him if he fell.
Drunk Driving - Punitive Damages Verdict Upheld
The Rockingham Circuit Court has upheld a jury's verdict in a drunk driving, punitive damages case. The plaintiff claimed approximately $10,000 in past and future medical bills and the jury returned a verdict of compensatory damages in the amount of $80,000. Further, the jury returned verdict of $200,000 in punitive damages. The defendant moved to reduce the jury verdict on the grounds it was excessive.The court noted that the compensatory damage award was only 8 times the plaintiff's claimed special damages, and as such, did not "shock the conscience" of the court. Regarding the punitive damage claim, the court noted that the defendant had previously been convicted of multiple DUI incidents, had a .32 BAC level, and showed little remorse for the accident. As such, the court held that the verdict was not excessive considering the circumstances surrounding the DUI.
Twelve-Year-Old Girl Injured in a Boating Accident on Smith Mountain Lake Settles for $303,500
The minor victim of a boating accident on Smith Mountain Lake on July 2, 2005 settled the case for $303,500. Specifically, a twelve-year old girl traveled to the lake with friends. The girl’s parents entrusted her supervision to certain adults who then delegated her supervision to other adults. In the process, the girl was being towed behind a personal watercraft (jet ski) operated by the adult defendant with a minor passenger who was responsible for watching the girl. The defendant adult operator of the personal watercraft operated the watercraft in such a manner as to throw the girl from the tube. Subsequently, a second defendant ran the girl over causing severe personal injures to her legs, groin and femoral artery. The case settlement was comprised of the limits of the only applicable insurance policy and money paid out of pocket from one of the defendants.
Car accident claims life of Henrico County resident
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that there were approximately 1,700 traffic deaths and 841,000 personal injuries arising from automobile accidents in 2007.
NHTSA also estimates that approximately 11,000 lives were saved by people wearing their seatbelts.
$490,000 verdict upheld: one less defense in auto accident personal injury trials
The Virginia Supreme Court handed down a decision in Richmond during its January session which removes the "unavoidable accident" doctrine from the available defenses in personal injury claims arising from automobile, motorcycle, and truck accidents. A car accident in Central Virginia gave rise to the case of Hancock-Underwood v. Knight, 227 Va. 127 (2009). An Amherst County jury awarded the victim's family $490,000 in compensation for the death and injuries suffered as a result of the car accident. That verdict was upheld in the Virginia Supreme Court's decision.In reference to the "unavoidable accident" doctrine, Justice Donald W. Lemons wrote for the Court: "In consideration of the prevailing concerns of the states that have rejected the instruction -- that it merely restates the law of negligence, overemphasizes the defendant's case , and is apt to confuse and mislead - we join those states and hold that it is error to grant an unavoidable accident instruction." Id. at 136.
Auto Accident Lawsuit Found To Be Timely Filed
A Hanover Circuit Court judge has found that a lawsuit arising from an automobile accident in Hanover was timely filed after it appeared that the statute of limitaitons may have expired, because there was an earlier lawsuit that was filed in Ohio before the statute of limitations expired. In a typical car accident case, there is a 2 year statute of limitations to file a lawsuit. Also, there are usually several different venues that a personal injury lawyer can file a lawsuit. Most personal injury lawsuits arising from auto accidents do not have to be filed in a mandatory venue. Rather, there are usually several different permissible venues from which a plaintiff's lawyer can chose to file a lawsuit.In the Hanover County case, the plaintiff filed a lawsuit in an Ohio court even though the accident occurred in Virginia, one day before the 2 year statute of limitations expired. Then, after the statute of limitations expired, the plaintiff filed another lawsuit in Norfolk. The Ohio court then transferred the case to Norfolk, and the Norfolk judge dismissed the first lawsuit, and transferred the second lawsuit to Hanover.
The defendant moved to dismiss the case because the second lawsuit was filed after the expiration of the statute of limitations. However, the judge found that under Virginia law the statute of limitations was "tolled," or delayed, while the first suit was pending. Accordingly, it was not too late to file the second suit in Norfolk.
New Law Requires Insurance Companies To Disclose Policy Limits In Motor Vehicle Accident Cases
The legislature recently passed a law to require insurance companies to disclose the applicable policy limits when a request is made prior to litigation. Before this law was adopted, insurance companies were not required to diclose policy limits when a claim is made. Instead, an injured person would have to file a lawsuit, and conduct discovery to force policy limits to be disclosed.Under the new law, an attorney or injured person must give written notice to the insurance carrier in a motor vehicle accident matter that requests that the policy limits be disclosed. The requesting party must provide facts of the car accident, including the date of the accident, the address of the party causing the accident, or a copy of the accident report. Most importantly, the requesting party must submit medical bills and/or lost wage information that show that the damages claimed equal or exceed $12,500. If these requirements are met, then the insurance company must disclose the policy limits within 30 days.
Also noteworthy, the fact that the insurance company discloses the limits does not mean that the insurance company admits that the insurance policy covers the accident, nor is the disclosure of the information admissible at a later trial.
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