Broward man collects $275,000.00 settlement for injuries received in crash involving medical facility transport bus
Author: Attorney Jason Macri
A 45 year-old Broward man was injured when his car was struck by a medical facility’s transport bus. The driver of the bus claimed to have gotten distracted as he was on his way to drop off his last passengers for the day. Unfortunately for our client, the bus driver’s loss of attention and concurrent negligence caused our client a serious neck injury.
Our client was driving a mid-sized sedan on the day of this crash. The sedan proved to be no match for the much bigger passenger van. Though the property damage to our client’s vehicle was not necessarily visually impressive, the sheer size and weight of the bus packed a powerful punch even at a moderate to low rate of speed. Our client’s car didn’t get damaged too badly but our client’s neck suffered a disc herniation. Though our client tried to avoid any serious medical procedures, he soon learned that the only way he was going to get out of extreme pain was by allowing a surgeon to perform a fusion of the vertebrae of his neck.
Though the potential complications involved in such a procedure are extremely worrisome for most, our client was lucky in that the procedure went well for him and he experienced a significant improvement in painful symptoms not long after the procedure. Based on his injury and need for such a serious procedure, we demanded compensation from the medical facility’s insurance company. The insurance company initially denied that this crash could’ve possibly caused such a serious injury given the minimal amount of visible property damage. They failed to take into account that the sheer size and weight of their vehicle alone would cause our client to experience a violent impact.
Because of the insurance company’s position on this matter and their refusal to compensate our client, we were forced to file a lawsuit. Through discovery and deposition, we were able to prove that the driver of the bus was clearly at fault and that although the impact did not occur at a high rate of speed, it was significant. At mediation, counsel for the medical facility admitted that his client was at fault for the crash but attempted to dispute that our client’s injuries were caused by the crash. The only problem with that argument was that they couldn’t prove that our client previously had the neck injury or even previously complained of neck pain.
Eventually, the insurance company for the medical facility agreed to offer enough money to cover all of our client’s medical bills, lost wages and out-of-pocket expenses. The case was settled for $275,000.00 which reimbursed our client for all damages including pain and suffering in the past and pain and suffering he was expected to experience into the future.
