"Take responsibility." It is an expression that is often said but not often lived up to. In motor vehicle accident cases it is not at all uncommon to see a driver or other party deny, rather than take, responsibility for causing the accident. It is not uncommon form an attorney who represents victims with catastrophic injuries from a motor vehicle accident to handle a case in which the driver-defendant just plain lies about how the accident occurs. The best approach in these cases is to let the facts of the case speak for themselves. In some of these cases uncovering and studying every detail of the scene of the accident, speaking with all witnesses to the accident, and using common sense is all it takes to be able to rebut the story made up by the driver-defendant.
Consider how the attorney representing the victim was able to position the following case:
This case involved a 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 struck a pedestrian. In response to the victim's claim the driver claimed that he was not liable in the accident because the reason he had lost control of the truck was that he had lost consciousness following an extreme fit of coughing. The truck involved in the accident was owned by the driver's employer. Furthermore, the driver had been acting in the scope of his employment when the accident happened.
These facts would make the employer liable if their employee, the driver, was liable. Because the driver claimed that he was not liable because a medical emergency caused the accident, the employer took the position that it too was not liable. But that was not the end of the story. The direction of the case began to change when the law firm representing the victim did not accept the claims by the driver and his employer. They pursued the claim and discovered that the driver had previously claimed a medical emergency on three separate occasions.
The employer responded by disclosing a doctor's certificate written just sixteen days earlier
than the accident clearing their employee as capable of operating a tractor trailer. By disclosing the certificate the employer continued in their attempt to continue to make their argument that what happened was a medical emergency and to deny any liability for the accident. The driver never said anything about having lost consciousness to the police at the time of the accident and appeared lucid. The law firm looked further into the issue and found that the doctor had written the certificate based on untruthful information given by the driver thereby invalidating the certificate.
The female victim, only 58 years old, suffered multiple serious injuries. A ligament on the thumb of her dominant hand was ruptured. Her clavicle was fractured. Three of her ribs were fracture. She also suffered a skull fracture. Given that the defendants denied any responsibility for the accident, and therefore any liability, the law firm that represented the victim took the case to trial. During the trial the law firm was able to persuade the jury that the driver had made up the story of the coughing fit and the loss of consciousness only after the victim pursued a claim so as to avoid responsibility for the accident. As a result, the jury found for the victim and awarded her $1.2 million.
Most defendants are honest and describe the accident as it happened. Many even admit that the accident was their fault. Even those who are honest in their description of the accident, however, sometimes remember it incorrectly. And then there are the few that flat out lie. As this case demonstrates there is no substitute for a thoroughly working up a case.
If the law firm representing the victim had accepted the account of the accident given by the driver and the information provided by the driver's employer they would never have uncovered the evidence that resulted in a $1.2 million jury award. It requires a certain amount of experience, common sense, resources, and skill to realize that something is not right with a defendant's story and to know how and where to look for the evidence that will rebut it.
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