One would expect that a person who causes an accident in which someone is badly injured would take responsibility for their actions and do everything possible to help the victim recover for his or her injuries. Any attorney who handles motor vehicle accidents involving catastrophic injuries, however, will sooner or later run into a situation in which the driver outright lies about what happened in an effort to avoid liability.
When attorneys encounter a situation in which they believe this to be the case they need to fully investigate the circumstances surrounding the accident. Sometimes this requires retaining the help of experts, such as an accident reconstruction expert or a toxicologist. Other times all that is needed is an eye for detail, a bit of common sense, and a lot of hard work For example, consider the following case:
Liability:
In this case, the driver who caused this pedestrian was driving a company truck and was in the scope of his employment at the time of the accident. The driver lost control of the tractor-trailer which went up onto the sidewalk where it slammed into a pedestrian. The driver claimed, however that the reason he lost control of his vehicle was because he had a coughing fit which led to his loss of consciousness. The driver and his employer therefore took the position that this was a medical emergency and that he was thus not at fault and that they were not liable.
During discovery the law firm that handled the case uncovered that the driver had a history of three prior medical emergencies. In response the employer produced a certificate indicating that a physician had cleared the driver to operate a tractor-trailer truck 16 days before the accident. They presented the certificate in an attempt to absolve themselves of liability. But this did not stop the law firm handling the case.
By conducting a thorough investigation they were able to show that the
driver had given the physician a false medical history materially affecting the physician's conclusion as to his fitness to operate a truck. Further, they obtained testimony from the police officers who responded to the accident that the driver was lucid at the scene and that he did not say anything about having lost consciousness when they questioned him at the scene of the accident. They were thus able to argue at trial that the claim by the driver that he experienced loss of consciousness claim was an after the fact fabrication to avoid liability.
Damages:
The pedestrian hit by the truck was a 58 year old woman. She suffered a rupture of a ligament in her dominant thumb. She also suffered multiple fractures including fractures to three of her ribs, a displaced fracture of a clavicle, and a fractured skull.
Outcome:
The law firm that handled the case to it to trial and were able to obtain a verdict in the amount of $1.2 million.
Perhaps the employer in this case truly believed that the driver had been fit to drive a tractor-trailer and had simply experienced a medical emergency. Perhaps the driver convinced himself that he had experienced yet another medical emergency. Or perhaps, for whatever reason, the driver believed that if he told the truth about what happened he would lose his job. No one will ever know. But the attorney handling the case had the experience and the common sense to see that something about that version of the accident simply was not right. And a jury later agreed.
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 when an attorney with the skill and the experience follows through on a case like this the result can make all the difference in the outcome.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://cdnimages.articlefriendly.net/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
