$547,500 Truck Accident Settlement

category: Truck Accidents

$547,000 Truck Accident Settlement

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$547,500 Truck Accident Settlement. Our office represented a family of five ranging in ages from 10 to 33 years old in a case involving a semi-truck merging into our clients’ interstate lane, causing our client to cross into the median and ultimately flip several times at a high rate of speed. Our clients’ injuries ranged from soft tissue to orthopedic injuries necessitating surgery.

The defendants alleged that the driver of our clients’ vehicle overreacted to a situation causing the plaintiffs’ vehicle to flip. There was disagreement over whether the defendant’s tractor-trailer contacted the plaintiffs’ vehicle first or whether the plaintiffs’ vehicle, after entering the median and returning to the interstate contacted the defendant’s tractor-trailer. Through two independent witnesses located in surrounding states, it became apparent that the defendant’s tractor-trailer did not signal prior to merging into our clients’ lane of traffic and that our clients had no choice but to enter the median to avoid an initial collision.

The case was filed in the state court but was removed to Federal Court. Several of the family members had to be airlifted to hospitals outside of Illinois. We retained a consultant to analyze the ECM data from the tractor-trailer to further assist the investigation of the cause of the collision and to place appropriate blame.

Ultimately, the parties agreed to private mediation. After an unsuccessful day-long mediation, the case settled within a few weeks.