On May 12, 2009, plaintiff Sally Lucas, 60, an unemployed high school teacher, was at a red light, intending to make a right turn onto a roadway in Santa Rosa when her van was rear-ended by a vehicle operated by Randy O’Gorman. Lucas claimed the accident caused to her back, neck and both knees. No ambulance or police were called to scene. Lucas sued O’Gorman for motor vehicle negligence. Specifically, she claimed that she was stopped at the red light and had not yet begun to make the left turn when her van was rear-ended. O’Gorman conceded that Lucas was stopped at a red light, but claimed that the plaintiff began to make a right turn and then stopped again for no reason, causing the collision., Eight days after the accident, Lucas sought medical attention from her primary care doctor. She claimed to neck, lower back and both knees, and ultimately underwent knee surgery on April 22, 2010. Thus, Lucas claimed medical bills of $26,575.36. Lucas, formerly a high school teacher since 2006, made no loss of income claim since she was unemployed at the time of crash. However, she claimed her vehicle sustained $817 worth of damage in the crash. Defense counsel argued that Lucas’ knee were not related to the accident. The defense’s accident reconstruction expert testified that he calculated the impact force to be 4 mph or less. Thus, the defense’s biomechanical engineering expert opined that, due to the nature of rear-end accidents, Lucas’ knees would not have hit the dashboard, as she had claimed.