Pedestrian & Bicycle Cases Verdicts and Settlements
Here are some of our recent pedestrian & bicycle cases verdicts and settlements:
Pedestrian/Bike Case – $1.45 Million
Rivers Morrell Represented a bicyclist who was hit by a truck and severely injured. A truck exiting a highway fails to come to a stop at the bottom of the ramp striking and severely injuring the bicyclist. The injured client has permanent injuries and our law firm had to pursue multiple entities and insurance companies to maximize the settlement for our client.
Pedestrian on Handicap Ramp – $840,000
Rivers Morrell represented a client who was injured on a handicap pedestrian ramp while entering a gas station. The client received significant injuries to his leg and knee requiring multiple surgeries. The handicap ramp was not up to code. The slop angles were too steep and the markings on the ramp did not meet regulations nor provide adequate warning of hazard.
Recovered over $1.5 million on behalf of a student who was hit will riding a bicycle
Auto Hits a Skateboarder: 6 Figures
This was a very difficult case. The client was riding his skateboard down the middle of the street, at dusk. Cars had on their headlights and the streetlights were on. He was in a residential neighborhood, and he was hit from behind by the defendant. The defendant claimed that he could not see our client until it was too late, because it was too dark to see him in time to avoid hitting him. A witness, coming from the opposite direction agreed that he could not see our client until the last minute because it was too dark. We took a number of depositions and were able to show that the defendant was not paying attention, and if he had been, he would have been able to avoid hitting our client. This is a case that was turned down by a number of others, who saw it as a no liability case. The insurance company adjuster basically only offered nuisance value. Because of the adjuster’s refusal to see the case the way that we did, we filed suit. The case eventually settled at an amount very favorably, multiple times more than had initially been offered.
Auto vs. Pedestrian accident: 6 figures
Here, the client was walking in the parking lot of a shopping center in South Orange County. She was walking to her car, when the defendant, leaving her parking space, struck the Plaintiff, our client. The client was taken by ambulance to a local hospital. She had multiple complaints, but there were issues in proving whether she hit her head, as there were no medical records to support this claim. Multiple depositions, and multiple defense medical exams were conducted, and at the mediation, the case settled for an amount into the 6 figures
Bicycle Accident – Settlement: 6 Figures
This was a case where an elderly experienced bike rider was struck by a vehicle that was backing out of a driveway. The defense claimed that the accident was entirely the fault of the bike rider, as did a witness. As a result of the accident, the client received a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), a collapsed lung, vision, and hearing injuries. The defendant refused to offer the medical bills. The case went to binding arbitration, and the arbitrator found in favor of the client, and awarded well into the 6 figures.
