Our client, a 64-year-old factory mechanic, was riding his street legal motor scooter to work in the early morning hours of October 15, 2010. He followed his normal route, which passed a large grocery distribution facility where trucks often lined up to unload. On this day, our client saw a refrigerated box truck parked on the right side shoulder ahead. Just as he went to pass the truck, it made a U-turn in front of him.
The rear of the trailer struck our client’s scooter and the impact threw him to the curb. The collision caused multiple serious injuries, including a ruptured spleen. An ambulance rushed him to the hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. He suffered many complications, including respiratory failure, and he was in-and-out of the hospital for almost two years. During this time, he lost over 50 pounds, and was bed-ridden and unable to function normally for months at a time.
By the time he recovered from his injuries, the plaintiff had incurred over $1,000,000 in medical bills, in addition to being unable to work ever again. The insurer for the truck driver and the trucking company initially made our client a “zero offer” — claiming that the accident was entirely our client’s fault.
The victim’s family contacted the Crosley Law Firm to investigate the case. Because the client was bed-ridden and unable to travel to our office, the initial client meeting took place in our client’s hospital room. Tom Crosley hit it off with the client right away. “This was a hard-working man, who had been in the same job nearly 40 years, and he had it all taken away from him in a single moment. Of course I wanted to help him,” Crosley said.
Our attorneys not only helped him get all of the medical treatment he needed to fully recover, they also discovered important facts that ultimately forced the trucking company to take responsibility for the crash.
After the investigation was complete and the lawsuit was filed, Tom Crosley cross-examined the truck driver under oath. The driver was forced to admit that he was unfamiliar with the area, had passed the correct entrance by mistake, and was looking for the next place to turn around. He also admitted that he was attempting to turn into a driveway clearly marked “NO TRUCKS” when he collided with our client. Finally, the driver testified that the headlight on our client’s scooter was working after the crash — proving that he should have seen our client if he had only been watching his mirrors.
These damaging facts uncovered by the Crosley Law Firm, as well as the firm’s track record of success in trucking and motorcycle cases, prompted the insurer to pay the maximum amounts owed under the trucking liability insurance policies available in the case. The settlement was enough to compensate for our client’s medical costs and his lost earnings; in addition our client was able to net a sizeable cash settlement to invest for his future financial security.
