The defendant, a driver of a dump-truck, was approaching a blind curve in the road near Aldie. He ignored both caution and warning signs and “rumble strips” that should have alerted him and caused him to slow down and to watch for stopped cars before entering the blind curve. The defendant did not heed the warnings and failed to reduce his speed when entering the curve.
After making the curve, the defendant was travelling too fast to respond and stop when he observed a line of stopped traffic ahead of him. In his effort to avoid a crash, the defendant steered into the other lane of the road. Doing so placed the dump-truck on a collision course with a Honda Pilot driven by the plaintiff.
As a result of the ensuing collision, plaintiff sustained numerous injuries, including traumatic brain injury, bleeding of the brain, pneumothorax, and fractures of a number of bones and spinal discs. He had no memory of the crash. He was transported to the hospital in critical condition and admitted. After spending more than six weeks in the hospital, he was sent to a skilled nursing facility, where he remained for almost six months.
The company insuring the defendant offered to settle the case for an amount remaining on the commercial policy. This offer was rejected by the plaintiff’s attorney. After assessing the assets and income of the company that owned the dump-truck driven by the defendant, a demand for an amount in excess of the amount of the insurance policy was entered by the plaintiff’s attorney.
After several efforts to negotiate a settlement, the case was finally settled for payment to the plaintiff in a series of payments for an amount $500,000 more than the limits of the insurance policy. The final amount of the settlement was $1,473,000.
If you have been injured in a car crash, call the trusted attorneys of Altizer Law, P.C. They have the experience and expertise to secure for you the largest reasonable settlement under the limits of Virginia Law.
