subject: After Victim's Expert Rebuts Driver's Story, Driver Agrees To $450,000 Settlement [print this page] It is not unusual for an individual hurt in a vehicle accident to be presented with a defendant who denies responsibility. Often, these defendants in fact place responsibility with the victim for the accident. Since many vehicle accidents are not observed by witnesses such cases may come down to the credibility of the victim versus the credibility of the driver. Not surprisingly if this happens the insurance company insuring the defendant will frequently align themselves with the defendant.
Attorneys seasoned in handling such cases, most notably in those that deal with serious injuries to the plaintiff, recognize that they actually do carry the load of demonstrating that the defendant was responsible. Relying on a credibility battle is unlikely to result in a settlement and wagers on the outcome at trial. Despite the fact that it is not always economically feasible to work up a claim using experts, in cases where the damages are enough and there is plenty of insurance coverage or there are resources that could be used for a compensation of the victims, it may be proper to do so.
Look at the published claim which arose when a truck made a right hand turn at the same time a bicycle messenger was trying to pass it on the right. The truck cut off the bicyclist. The front of the truck slammed into the bicyclist throwing him from the bicycle. The truck's front tire and rear tire both ran over the victim. The bicyclist sustained fractures to his pelvis and serious internal injuries. The plaintiff was 22 years old when the accident took place.
The driver claimed that he was not to blame for the accident. In what is an all too common defense position the driver blamed the victim for the accident. According to the truck driver, he had his signal on before taking the turn. The defendant also maintained that the bicyclist entered the intersection without stopping for the stop sign, and denied twice running over the plaintiff. The plaintiff was clear that the driver never used his turn signal and that the driver could not have been paying attention when he made the turn.
The law firm that handled this lawsuit rebutted the defendant's account of who caused the accident using the support of an accident reconstruction expert. By demonstrating that the truck did in fact run over the bicyclist twice the law firm established truck driver must not have been paying attention to traffic on his right as he took the turn. Due to this, the law firm documented that they were able to obtain a settlement in the amount of $400,000 for the plaintiff.
