Arizona personal injury attorney Gary Annes has settled a pedestrian accident lawsuit for $600,000. The accident took place in the western suburbs of Chicago, Illinois back in November, 2008. Liability was contested in the case.
The plaintiff was crossing a four-lane road at an intersection with an unmarked crosswalk. The intersection is near a commuter rail station and train passengers frequently cross the street at the location where the accident occurred.
The victim in our case was walking after dark from the train station to his car that had been left for the day in a nearby parking lot. He crossed safely halfway and then a car stopped to let him cross the rest of the way. As he continued to cross the street, an elderly driver failed to observe the plaintiff and hit him with his vehicle. Our client was only about a step away from the other curb.
The collision knocked him several feet into the air, and he landed by a vehicle that was parked nearby. He was found a short time later by paramedics in a pool of his own blood, and then taken to a nearby emergency room.
Local police rushed to the scene of the accident. Investigating officers were able to speak with the defendant and an independent witness. The elderly driver said to police that he thought someone threw a rock at his car and that he never saw the plaintiff. He drove about a block down, turned around and came back, and only then realized he had hit a pedestrian.
The plaintiff sustained serious injuries in the incident. When he arrived at the emergency room, medical personnel observed a temporary loss of consciousness and that he was having amnesia. He was repetitive and confused. He had also sustained multiple lacerations all over his body. Doctors used staples to close up his right shoulder and his scalp to stop immediate bleeding.
The severity of his injures was soon realized after diagnostic tests were performed. He had sustained multiple facial fractures, including a right-sided orbital blowout fracture. He also had a pelvic fracture, a right ulna fracture and a cerebral hemorrhage.
The plaintiff had several surgeries in the hospital, including an open reduction and internal fixation of his right ulna, an open reduction and internal fixation of the fracture to his pelvis, and surgery to repair his orbital fractures.
Our client remained in the hospital for days before he was finally transferred to a rehab facility where he then stayed for several weeks for rehabilitation and therapy.
A lawsuit was filed in the case after the defendant’s insurance carrier only offered our client $150,000 to settle his case. Our law firm thought the claim had a much greater value and moved forward with litigation.
After a period of discovery and depositions the parties participated in a nonbinding mediation. Negotiations then continued for weeks after the mediation until a $600,000 settlement figure was reached.
If you have been seriously injured in a Phoenix pedestrian accident, contact Abels & Annes for a free, no obligation consultation. Call us day or night at 602-819-5191 to speak directly to a lawyer.
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