$1.2 Million Jury Verdict For Victim Of Truck Accident After Defendant Tried To Deflect Liability

“Take responsibility.” It is an expression that is frequently said but not often lived up to. In motor vehicle accident cases it is all to frequent that one sees a driver or other party deny, rather than take, blame for causing the accident. Any lawyer who handles motor vehicle accidents involving disastrous injuries, however, will at some point come across a situation in which the driver simply lies about what happened in an attempt to dodge legal responsibility.

When lawyers run into a situation in which they believe this to be the case they ought to fully check out the circumstances surrounding the accident. Sometimes this requires retaining the help of experts, for example, an accident reconstruction expert or a toxicologist. Other times the only thing needed is an eye for detail, a bit of common sense, and a good deal of hard work. For instance, consider the lawsuit discussed below:

This matter involved the driver of a tractor-trailer who lost control of his vehicle. The truck ended up on the sidewalk by the side of the road where it hit a pedestrian. The driver, however, stated that the reason he lost control of his vehicle was due to a coughing fit which resulted in his loss of consciousness. The driver was driving the truck for his employer. Given this the employer was liable if the driver was liable. The driver and his employer therefore took the position that this case involved a medical emergency and that he was therefore not at fault and that hence the employer was also not liable. And yet that was not the end of the story. During discovery the law firm that helping the victim found out that the driver had a history of three prior claimed medical emergencies

The employer responded by disclosing a physician's certificate written just sixteen days earlier than the accident clearing their employee as able to drive a tractor trailer. By revealing the certificate the employer kept going in their attempt to continue to make their assertion that what happened was the outcome of a medical emergency and to refute any liability for the accident. But this did not prevent the law frim from representing the victim. By carring out a methodical investigation they were able to show that the driver had given the physician a false medical history materially influencing the physician’s judgment as to his ability to operate a truck. Moreover, they secured testimony from the police officers who responded to the accident that the defendant was lucid at the location and that he did not mention having lost consciousness at the time they questioned him at the scene.

The pedestrian struck by the truck was a 58 year old woman. She sustained a rupture of a ligament in her dominant thumb. She also sustained a number of fractures including fractures to 3 of her ribs, a displaced fracture of a clavicle, and a fractured skull. Since the defendants claimed they had no responsibility for the accident, and consequently also denied any liability, the law firm that represented the woman took the case to trial. While in the trial the trial the law firm was able to convince the jury that the defendant had made up the story of the coughing fit and the loss of consciousness only after the plaintiff went forward with her case in order to avoid responsibility for the accident. As a result, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the female victim in the amount of $1.2 million.

Perhaps the employer truly believed that the driver had been fit to drive a tractor-trailer and had simply suffered a medical emergency. It could be the driver persuaded himself that he had gone through yet another medical emergency. Or perhaps, for whatever reason, the driver thought that if he told the truth concerning how the accident took place he would lose his job. No one will ever know. As this matter demonstrates there is it can be critical to do a thoroughly working up a case. It takes experience to recognize when a driver’s version of the accident is suspicious, it takes the ability to spend the time and resources to uncover the true facts, and it takes the willingness to take on the challenge. But if an attorney with the skill and the experience follows through on a matter like this the outcome can be considerable.

By: J. Hernandez

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Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney accepting catastrophic injury cases. To learn more about how a truck accident attorney can help you and about other vehicle accident cases including fatal car accident matters visit the websites