$2,500,000
2016 – Minnesota
Type of Action – Trucking Accident
Injury – Post Traumatic Brain Injury to passenger in utero
Description – A speeding semi-tractor, pulling a double tanker trailer broad-sided a vehicle that had slowed and was attempting an illegal u-turn. The wreck resulted in the wrongful death of the driver of the vehicle. Additionally, there were severe injuries to the pregnant passenger including the infliction of post traumatic cerebral palsy to the passenger’s son, who was in utero during the accident.
$2,200,000
2006 – Minnesota
Type of Action – Product Liability Automotive
Injury – Paraplegic
Description – A defectively designed motor vehicle was cited as the cause of an on-road SUV rollover in which plaintiff, due to a roof crush, sustained catastrophic injuries rendering him a paraplegic.
$2,250,000
2010 – Wyoming
Type of Action – Trucking Accident
Injury – Wrongful death; traumatic brain injury, facial and scalp lacerations, pelvic fracture, anemia due to blood loss
Description – On the snowy afternoon of the collision, the Plaintiff’s four of four was parked in the emergency lane due to an accumulation of snow of their windshield and poor road conditions. The Defendant was driving at an excessive speed for the circumstance and lost control of his tractor-trailer. The semi jackknifed and hit the left rear portion of the Plaintiff’s vehicle. The Plaintiff husband, the driver, succumbed to his injuries the evening of the crash and passed away. His two daughters and wife were also severely injured in the accident. The trucking company had $2,000,000 insurance limits which were tendered. Plaintiff’s then attempted an action against the shipper for negligent selection of an independent contractor (trucker) a case of first impression in Wyoming. The case settled for a confidential amount after Motions for Summary Judgment were argued.
$1,650,000
2013 – Kentucky
Type of Action – Trucking Accident
Injury – Brain injury, crushed bones, muscle injuries
Description – A hard-working father of five was struck on the passenger’s side of his vehicle by a semi tractor-trailer who failed to yield the right of way and ran a red light. The driver was ejected from the vehicle hundreds of feet away from his crushed vehicle onto the pavement after the passenger door opened during the collision. The driver sustained extensive injuries including a traumatic brain injury, bleeding in the brain, spinal and skull fractures, numerous crushed and broken bones, and muscle tears. Plaintiff’s had to overcome a seatbelt defense.
$1,250,000
2004 – Minnesota
Type of Action – Motor Vehicle Accident
Injury – Traumatic Brain Injury
Description – A 16-year-old passenger received a traumatic brain injury after the vehicle the teenager was in hit another vehicle.
$1,600,000
2014 – Wisconsin
Type of Action – Trucking Accident
Injury – Brain injury resulting in a persistent vegetative state
Description – Defendant drove an overweight tractor-trailer off the road, where it came to rest laying perpendicular to the road. The tractor-trailer was in such poor repair that the state transportation department found at least 6 regulatory violations, any one of which made the tractor trailer illegal to be operating on the road. And, at the time of the collision, Through discovery Plaintiff’s developed facts that suggested Defendant-driver has been driving continuously for 14 hours and was driving too fast for the conditions. There were eye witnesses that testified that due to the rain and icy conditions it was difficult it see the stopped tractor-trailer that was blocking traffic. In fact, both witnesses said they were within a few hundred feet before they saw the massive truck. The Plaintiff was not as fortunate as the witnesses. Her vehicle skidded beneath the tractor-trailer, shearing the top of car. She was struck in the head and has been in a vegetative state ever since. The trucking company only had $1,000,000.00 in coverage, so Plaintiff’s sued the broker for negligent selection of an independent contractor and successfully recovered for the Plaintiff.
$1,400,000
2016 – Minnesota
Type of Action – Product Liability
Injury – Severe brain injury that required surgery
Description – Plaintiff was working on his farmland when the family pick-up truck got stuck in the mud. The Plaintiff went home to fetch equipment to dislodge the truck, and found that his son was home from college. The father and son took a pull rope and two clevises, which were purchased under the advice of the local farm equipment store, to the field. While attempting to pull the truck from the mud, one of the clevises failed, flew through the windshield of the tractor, and struck the Plaintiff violently in the head. The manufacturer of the clevises had special knowledge of the risks associated with their use, and failed to warn their customers of these risks. If it were not for this negligent practice, the plaintiff would not have had to endure a massive skull fracture, traumatic brain injury, and left-side paralysis. The plaintiff can no longer run his family farm or manage his person care. Although the plaintiffs disposed of the defective product and were sanctioned for spoliation, counsel for Plaintiff’s were able to make a significant recovery in very tough products case.
$910,000
2015 North Carolina
Type of Action – Trucking Accident
Injury – Permanent spinal and neck injuries
Description – A tractor-trailer crashed in a motor vehicle after merging into the vehicle’s lane of travel causing a side-swipe collision that forced the driver of the vehicle into a median barrier at a high speed. As a result of the accident, the driver received alarming and permanent spinal and neck injuries which gave rise to severely limiting work restrictions. Plaintiff underwent a spinal fusion. After Defendant’s admitted liability, the case resolved at mediation.
$910,000
2014 – Minnesota
Type of Action – Trucking Accident
Injury – Lower back pain resulting in surgery
Description – Wife and Mother of two was working for her state’s department of transportation at the time of the collision. On the day in question, she was sitting in an early warning vehicle to give vehicles notice of the upcoming road sweeping truck. This is when the Semi-Driver Defendant failed to move over for traffic control signal and stuck the truck the Plaintiff was in. Semi Driver had numerous moving and safety violations. The Plaintiff received a severe lower-back injury that finally resulted in surgery after months of physical therapy.
$890,000
2012 – Iowa
Type of Action – Trucking Accident
Injury – Wrongful death
Description – Distracted driving and needlessly speeding were major contributing factors to the careless Defendant fatally injuring the Plaintiff by striking him with his tractor-trailer. The husband, father, and grandfather was thrown some 40 feet into a ditch from his backhoe where he had been working diligently just prior to the accident. The driver of the tractor-trailer had a checkered driving and safety history, and never should have been allowed to operate a commercial vehicle.
$700,000
2016 – Minnesota
Type of Action – Trucking Accident
Injury – Closed head trauma, severe knee, foot, and shoulder injuries
Description – Plaintiff was traveling North when Defendant who was traveling East on a perpendicular roadway, failed to stop at a stop sign and hit Plaintiff. Witnesses confirmed that the Defendant failed to stop and marks on the scene did not show any sign he tried to stop. Plaintiff suffered numerous injuries including, closed head trauma (subdural hematoma and facial fractures), shoulder dislocation and injury, severe joint sprain, fracture of right foot, lower back discomfort and left ACL injury requiring a knee replacement.
$600,000
2014- Illinois
Type of Action- Trucking/Pedestrain
Injury- Fractured tib/fib fracture with surgery.
Description- Plaintiff was crossing in a crosswalk when a tractor-trailer made a turn in knocked pedestrian down. Witnesses indicated that Plaintiff walked into the trailer.
$535,000
2012- Minnesota
Injury- Shoulder Surgery/Low back surgery
Description- Plaintiff trucker was hit head-on by another trucker that was swinging wide to make a turn. The accident occurred at low speeds. Plaintiff had injuries resulting in shoulder surgery and back surgery.
$500,000
2012 – Minnesota
Type of Action – Bicycle Injury
Injury – Skull fractures, balance issues, broken arm, rub, and shoulder blade, shoulder injury, loss of consortium
Description – Plaintiff was riding his bicycle across the intersection of an overpass when he was struck broadside by the Defendant. Facts developed suggested Defendant went through a red light. Plaintiff disputed these facts The Defendant failed in his duty to operate his vehicle in a careful manner and did not allow the Plaintiff sufficient time to clear the intersection with his bicycle.
$320,000
2015 – Indiana
Type of Action – Trucking Accident
Injury – Torn rotator cuffs and whiplash
Description – A negligent tractor-trailer driver jackknifed his truck during icy road conditions, causing a chain reaction collision of four tractor-trailers. The Plaintiff was struck in the back of his vehicle and then thrust forward into a fourth vehicle. The dual impacts caused the driver to take a hard jolt to his shoulders and snapped his head backwards and then forwards. Resulting injuries included pain in the neck and back, and muscle torn rotator cuffs in both shoulders requiring multiple surgeries.
$265,000
2014 – South Carolina
Type of Action – Trucking Accident
Injury – Brain injury resulting in major neurological deficits
Description – A once vital business owner sustained a closed head injury resulting in deficits. On the evening in question, a tractor-trailer backed into his driveway, blocking the lane of traffic. The tractor had faulty taillights, making it difficult to see in the evening. As a driver came toward the truck, the driver failed to warn of his presence or evade the crash in any way. A vehicle struck the right, passenger side of the tractor. Because of this crash, the driver of the vehicle suffered a severe brain injury, loss of vision in one eye, difficulty walking and lasting neurological deficits, including word finding and multitasking. Plaintiff was forced to litigate a dec action and the tort action simultaneously. Plaintiff prevailed in the dec action and the case settled.
$260,000
2014 – Minnesota
Type of Action – Trucking Accident
Injury – Spinal and neck injuries
Description – A tractor-trailer rig moved into the right lane, striking the left rear of driver’s vehicle with the front of his tractor, causing the driver’s vehicle to spin out into traffic where it struck another vehicle. The driver suffered significant injuries due to the impact. Encompassed in these injuries were headaches, numbness in the extremities, and neck pain that resulted in multiple spinal surgeries.
$240,000
2013 – Minnesota
Type of Action – Trucking Accident
Injury – Wrongful death
Description – On a foggy morning, which the Highway Patrol described as having zero visibility, a young, female driver was attempting to cross the highway when she was t-boned by a tractor-trailer. The driver of the car sadly died at the scene of the accident. The negligent Defendant, who left the accident uninjured, breached his duty to drive with extreme caution in hazardous weather conditions.
$1,125,000
2002 – Minnesota
Type of Action – Product Liability Automotive
Injury – Paraplegic
Description – A Ford Explorer swerved to avoid a deer, causing the vehicle to roll over. The passenger sustained a spinal injury, rendering him paraplegic. This is the first lawsuit in Minnesota involving the alleged tendency of Ford Explorers to roll over. See in news article 1 and article 2