Pickup Driver Causes Car Crash and Crosley Law Firm Helps Victim

A Car Crash on a Clear Day

On a clear fall afternoon, Zuleyma was traveling home in her bright yellow car on a typical city street. Out of nowhere, a white pickup turned into her lane without signaling, and she couldn’t stop. Her vehicle collided with the truck.

Luckily, there were many witnesses nearby, including a police officer who pulled up in his patrol vehicle just a few seconds after the collision. Several people rushed to the scene to help.

The officer’s report explained that the pickup’s driver, Mr. S., failed to yield the right of way while he was turning into a private drive. The police officer determined that Mr. S.’s failure to yield caused Zuleyma to crash into his truck, and the officer assigned no fault to Zuleyma.

Zuleyma’s Injuries From the Car Accident

Having no role in causing the crash didn’t prevent Zuleyma from suffering terrible injuries. Her injuries included:

• Multiple spinal disc protrusions
• Multiple annular fissures (where the tissue that covers the spinal disc breaks or separates)
• Partial thickness tearing of the infraspinatus tendon and supraspinatus tendon (connecting tissues in the shoulder)
• A prepatellar soft tissue edema (swelling and inflammation in front of the kneecap)

Because of these injuries, Zuleyma started experiencing severe pain in her neck, back, shoulder, and knee almost immediately after the crash.

Zuleyma went to a local hospital and received MRI scans of her cervical and lumbar spine. These tests revealed multiple disc herniations (abnormal ruptures of the soft, inner part of spinal discs). Doctors immediately administered steroid injections to Zuleyma’s neck and back. Unfortunately, she continued to experience pain, weakness, and other symptoms, so she explored additional medical treatment.

Surgery and Ongoing Medical Treatment After the Car Wreck

Zuleyma ultimately had to have two surgeries. The first was a laminotomy and microdiscectomy. In this procedure, surgeons removed small parts of Zuleyma’s spinal discs and bones to try and alleviate her pain, numbness, and weakness.

After the crash, Zuleyma could not lift her left arm, and she had persistent pain and weakness in her shoulder. To address these issues, she had a second procedure, an arthroscopic shoulder surgery. During this surgery, doctors inserted a camera into her shoulder and examined her tissues and bones, then made additional incisions to try and repair the damage.

After these surgeries, Zuleyma attended physical therapy for several sessions to see how effective the surgeries had been. While the procedures had alleviated some symptoms, Zuleyma found that she continued to suffer neck and back pain.

Zuleyma saw more doctors, who recommended future treatments. They said Zuleyma was a candidate for several additional surgeries in the future to help treat her symptoms, including a lumbar fusion, cervical discectomy fusion, and arthroscopic knee surgery.

Returning to Work Became Impossible Due to Zuleyma’s Car Accident Injuries

The pain, weakness, and other limitations Zuleyma continued to experience made it impossible for her to return to her job as a cosmetologist. This was especially heartbreaking for her because she had just spent the past year working toward obtaining her cosmetology license.

As one expert put it, Zuleyma’s “return to full-time competitive employment is not within reasonable vocational probability.” In other words, she would not be able to keep a regular job because of the injuries she suffered in the crash.

Crosley Law Firm Helps Manage Everything Related to Zuleyma’s Car Accident Case

Zuleyma suffered injuries that required surgery and other expensive medical interventions, but she did not have health insurance. Early on in Zuleyma’s case, Crosley Law Firm helped negotiate with doctors to provide up-front payments that allowed Zuleyma to immediately get the medical care she needed. She could then pay the rest of her medical bills out of the settlement she ultimately received.

The attorneys at Crosley Law Firm also went to work on her case right away. They tracked down every lead, and they were able to find video from a nearby convenience store that captured the entire crash from start to finish.

As Tom Crosley explained, “Any time you have the injury-causing event on camera, it just makes for better evidence in the case.”

In addition to the video and the crash report, the Texas Transportation Code that everyone learns about in driver’s education was on Zuleyma’s side. For example, the code states that you “may not turn the vehicle to enter a private road or driveway or otherwise turn the vehicle from a direct course… unless movement can be made safely.” Mr. S. failed to follow this rule and caused the crash as a result.

Mr. S. also clearly violated the law that states you must use a signal to “indicate an intention to turn, change lanes, or start from a parked position… for not less than the last 100 feet of movement.” By not using his signal or even coming to a complete stop before turning, he took away any chance for Zuleyma to avoid the collision.

Unfortunately, Mr. S. continually denied any responsibility for the crash. In depositions (recorded statements taken under oath), he refused to accept responsibility and said he was not sorry for his actions, even after being shown video of the wreck multiple times.

When asked why he turned his truck without warning, Mr. S. simply said, “I really didn’t see her.” He also lied in his deposition, claiming that Zuleyma was texting behind the wheel (which she wasn’t) and claiming that he came to a complete stop (which he didn’t).

Crosley Law Firm Settles Zuleyma’s Personal Injury Claim

The Crosley Law Firm team went the extra mile for Zuleyma throughout her case. They worked with doctors to get her the medical treatment she needed. They tracked down all kinds of evidence, from medical bills and test results to video footage and expert economic analysis. They fought for her every step of the way in her personal injury claim.

They even worked around language barriers. As Tom Crosley explained, “Zuleyma doesn’t speak English, but many of us here are fluent in Spanish, so we were able to effectively handle her case.”

After gathering piles of evidence and fighting for Zuleyma, Crosley Law Firm settled the case in mediation for $575,000.

No amount of money can undo what happened to Zuleyma on that day. But this settlement allows her to get the medical services she needs and receive treatment for the pain and disabilities that one careless driver caused.

Crosley Law Firm: Advocating for Car Wreck Victims in San Antonio and Throughout Texas

If you’ve been injured or lost a loved one in a car accident because of someone else’s careless behavior, call Crosley Law Firm right away. We always put our clients first.

Call 210-LAW-3000 | 210-529-3000 to schedule a free consultation so you can get answers to your questions and honest advice about what your best course of action is. You can also fill out an easy online contact form to schedule your free consultation.

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