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In this case, a truck accident victim and his wife were awarded a total of $3.5 million for their future pain and suffering. It was one of the largest awards handed out in recent history in Michigan.
The man and his wife were heading west on a road in 2008 and were waiting to turn left onto another road, when a tractor-trailer pushed them into oncoming traffic, where they were hit by an oncoming semi. The first big rig in this horrific chain of negligence wasn’t paying attention to the van in front of him and when he noticed it was stopped, tried to hit the shoulder to avoid an accident.
Instead, what happened is that the rig that swerved, caused the attached trailer to spin into the van, whipping it out into oncoming traffic where the van was hit by another tractor trailer. The victims injuries were catastrophic, with the man suffered two fractured vertebrae, depression and traumatic brain injury.
He now walks with the aid of a cane and can no longer do what he once did prior to his truck accident. E.g. he can’t bowl or read. The victim is in constant pain, has a poor memory due to the brain injury and if he sustains another accident, he may be paralyzed, explained the observer.
The trial was rough, as the trucking company made the victim out to be a malingerer, whose injuries were not as bad as he claimed and in fact, were not the kinds of injuries he said he had; a fact that could be proven by producing the plaintiff’s medical records.
Cases like this are always difficult and the jury handed down a $3.5 million award instead of the $12 million that the plaintiff’s suit requested. $1.5 million went to the man for past and present damages and a further $1.5 million was for future damages. The wife received $380,000 for past and present damages and $120,000 for future damages. All monies awarded in this case were reduced to their present day dollar value.
This was one of those tricky cases that took a long time to settle and took a lot of out the plaintiff(s). However, it’s a good example of just how complex trucking accident cases can get. It also points out that without a skilled lawyer, the couple in this case would have been hard pressed to get adequate compensation. Courts in The Bronx and Brooklyn deal with cases like this all year long.
Never skip the necessary task of hiring a seasoned New York Trucking Accident Attorney, if you have been in a truck crash. They are your voice in court and the voice that will ensure you are treated fairly. Your New York Trucking Accident Attorney represents you aggressively to get you what you deserve.