A badly injured motorcyclist has just received $155k in compensation after a crash thanks to personal injury lawyers. The incident took place in San Antonio, Texas last year, and it has marked somewhat of a landmark in cases of that nature. While there was no contest from the guilty party, the professionals working on the case were less than confident about positive results when entering the court. Thanks to witness testimonies; they achieved one of the highest levels of compensation every award for a road accident case that did not involve fatalities.
The client was sitting in a line of vehicles waiting for traffic lights to change. The person driving the car in front of the victim reached down to answer their phone. In doing so, they accidentally put their car into reverse and accelerated backward at an alarming speed. The client had no chance of getting out of the way, and he was quickly pinned to the vehicle behind. While it might seem like an extreme case, there are many similar instances every single year.
So, which elements encouraged the judge to award such a substantial amount of compensation?
- Distracted driving. The guilty party was clearly distracted at the time of the incident. She was attempting to use her mobile phone when she should have been concentrating on her vehicle. That is one of the biggest causes of auto accidents today, and so the judge saw the seriousness of the offense
- Severity of injuries. The victim in question has to spend a long time in the hospital after the event. He sustained painful injuries to his legs and shoulders that lead to surgical treatment.
- Continues pain and struggle. Since the incident occurred, the person in question has experienced high levels of pain on a daily basis. That pain has made it impossible for him to perform a standard working routine, and so it has hindered his ability to provide for his family.
- Making an example. There is no getting away from the fact that the presiding judge wanted to make an example of the guilty party. By awarding substantial compensation, it sends out a strong message to other less than competent road users.
We spoke to a top DUI attorney who said the only way the victim would have received more compensation would have been if the driver concerned were under the influence of alcohol. While that isn’t true in this particular case, thousands of people are injured on our roads every year due to drunk drivers.
Will this case set a precedent as we move forward? Both victims and attorneys hope that we will see more high rates of compensation in the future. At the end of the day, people deserve money when something bad happens that was not their fault. Maybe the events of the last week are a step in the right direction? Most experts are excited that judges are now taking cases like this a little more seriously. Any loss of income or costs incurred due to someone else’s incompetence is not acceptable.
