Relieved but a little angry

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Cwalker935

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May 18, 2014
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Richmond, Va
My wife Lida was involved in a car accident almost 3 years ago. She was traveling on a highway at 55 mph when a kid driving a truck ran a stop sign right in front of her. She hit his rear end and he bounced into a car stopped at a stop sign on the opposite side of the intersection. The kid was cited for failure to yield the right of way. The policeman investigating the accident found no fault with my wife. Our car was totaled with the air bags deployed. Fortunately my wife was not injured. Pictures of the 3rd car show minimal damage. No one claimed or seemed to be hurt at the time of the accident.

Over 2 years later, my wife answered a knock at the front door and was given a subpoena. We were being sued by a passenger in the 3rd car who claimed that she had suffered a brain injury and was unable to work. Apparently she waited several days after the accident to go to a doctor. My wife was subject to interrogatories, a deposition and our cell phone records were subpoenaed. I assume they were trying to see if she was on the phone at the time of the accident, she was not. I was pretty confident my wife would not be found liable in any way. However, we could not help but be somewhat anxious with this hanging over our head. The law firm representing the woman suing us is constantly advertising on TV, I get angry every time I see the ads.

This morning we received word that the insurance companies were settling the case. Our company decided to settle for $25,000 providing that we would not be subject to any further claims just to make the case go away. The kid's insurance company settled for $250,000. I am relieved that this is over and that we will be out of pocket for beyond having to replace our car. I have no idea if the woman suing us was actually hurt, I suspect not. I understand why our insurance company decided to settle but think it is a shame that we were even involved in the suit when my wife was one of he victims of the accident.
 
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mark james

IAP Collection, Curator
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Sep 6, 2012
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12,720
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Medina, Ohio
I have been involved with such matters twice - nuisance lawsuits. While both were in my favor and were settled before trial, the costs to prove you are right are ridiculous, but the anxiety is much worse.

Glad it is over for you.
 

Pen Zen

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Jun 18, 2017
Messages
203
Location
North Richland Hills, TX
Wow, the kid had a lot of insurance. I think the standard liability coverage around here is $25K per person for up to 2 people. Totally inadequate these days.

I think it is common for people to wait until the last minute to sue before it times out. Lawyers don't care whose fault it is or even about right or wrong, just who has money or insurance.
 

Cwalker935

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May 18, 2014
Messages
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Location
Richmond, Va
Although he was clearly at fault, I feel sorry for the kid who caused all this. He has been dealing with this while starting college. His family hired an attorney to represent him in addition to the attorney from his insurance company since the original suit was seeking $1.5 million. Ironically the kid's father is the driver's ed instructor at our local High School.
 

Woodchipper

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Mar 15, 2017
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5,138
Location
Cleveland, TN
I'm surprised that your wife was liable for anything since the kid caused the whole mess. She had no control over what happened to her car. Glad she was OK. Any injury should have been addressed immediately after the accident by a doctor at the local emergency room. Was the kid's cell phone investigated? Can't figure out why she was targeted as she had the right-of-way, it seems.
 

MRDucks2

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Jul 17, 2017
Messages
3,215
Location
Bristow, IN
She was targeted because the lawyer took a shot at all potential targets. Over 30 years ago I was in an accident that was my fault, with 6 other guys in the car. Some of our injuries were pretty serious, but not grave. None of the guys thought about legal action but each were approached by a local lawyer who read about the incident in the newspaper. Two of them signed up with him and ultimately lost. About a 2 year process then, too, but very little involvement from me. This was before personal injury law became big business, though.


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Cwalker935

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Joined
May 18, 2014
Messages
3,506
Location
Richmond, Va
I'm surprised that your wife was liable for anything since the kid caused the whole mess. She had no control over what happened to her car. Glad she was OK. Any injury should have been addressed immediately after the accident by a doctor at the local emergency room. Was the kid's cell phone investigated? Can't figure out why she was targeted as she had the right-of-way, it seems.

We learned later today that our insurance Company decided to settle because they would have hired an expert witness that would have cost $30,000 if it had gone to trial. Apparently, the opposing party's theory was that my wife should have known that this was a dangerous intersection. I guess driving the speed limit somehow makes my wife liable. Perhaps she is supposed to have super human reactions and the ability to read minds and know someone was going to run a stop sign. If it's a known dangerous intersection, why not sue the state for having too high of a speed limit or not putting in a signal light or a warning sign that said warning drivers might run a stop sign.
 

Woodchipper

Member
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Mar 15, 2017
Messages
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Location
Cleveland, TN
News commentator, Paul Harvey, commented several years ago that lawyers surpassed doctors in income. It was also interesting that one in five lawyers are millionaires. Anyone care to research what lawyers got in the class action law suit of a few years ago. How much was clear profit?
 
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