Case details
Drunken driver ran red light and caused crash, plaintiff alleged
SUMMARY
$1000000
Amount
Settlement
Result type
Not present
Ruling
KEYWORDS
back, clavicle, fracture, neck, shoulder, transverse process, vertebra
FACTS
On June 30, 2010, at 5:41 a.m., the plaintiff, a 21-year-old specialty team member at Whole Foods who resided in San Francisco, was attempting to make a left turn from eastbound Skyport Drive onto the on-ramp for northbound State Route 87 in San Jose, when she was struck by a Toyota Tundra pickup truck traveling west on Skyport Drive. She sustained to her left foot and lower back, as well as her abdomen. The plaintiff sued the driver of truck and the driver’s employer. She alleged that the driver was negligent in the operation of the truck and that the corporation was vicariously liable for the driver’s actions since the employee was in the course and scope of his employment at the time of the crash. The plaintiff claimed that she had just left the airport and was intending to turn left onto the on-ramp for northbound SR-87 when she stopped for a red arrow at the intersection. She claimed that when the light turned green, she proceeded into the intersection and commenced her left turn when she was struck by the defendants’ truck. She alleged that the truck was traveling at a high rate of speed at the time of impact, causing sufficient force to propel the defendants’ truck approximately 100 feet post-impact. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that evidence indicated that the employee failed to stop for the red light that was facing his direction of travel. Counsel also contended that analysis by the Santa Clara County Crime lab indicated that the employee’s blood alcohol content was 0.13 percent at the time the blood was drawn, which was at approximately 8:37 a.m., three hours after the subject collision., The plaintiff sustained fractures of toes on her left foot, which included the metatarsals at the neck level of her second, third and fourth toes, as well as the big toe of her left foot. She also sustained a non-displaced fracture to her clavicle, and fractures of the lumbosacral and sacral areas, including a right L5 transverse process fracture extending into the right sacrum, a right sacral alar fracture and a left non-displaced sacral fracture. She was subsequently taken by ambulance to Santa Clara County Hospital Emergency Room, where she was examined and released. Two days later, on July 2, 2010, she was taken to the E.R. Department at John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek, for an emergency laparotomy due to perforations in her bowel and an emergency appendectomy. She later required open reduction and internal fixation approximately two weeks later to treat her toe fractures. The plaintiff later suffered scar formation with hypertrophy and an umbilical hernia. She alleged that her medical billings amounted to $187,219.48 for her past medical treatments. The plaintiff claimed that, nearly two years post-accident, her chief complaint is with her left foot, as she continues to have pain and swelling, causing her to have a limp and favor the left foot as she walks. She also claimed her limp is worse with activity, including with frequent, daily walking that she does in connection to her job. In addition, the plaintiff claimed that she suffers pain in her left clavicle with lifting, cramps in her abdominal region, and moderate back and pelvic pain.
COURT
Superior Court of Santa Clara County, Santa Clara, CA
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INJURIES:
- anxiety
- brain
- brain damage
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- depression
- epidural
- extradural hematoma
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- facial bone
- fracture
- head
- headaches
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- speech
- subdural hematoma
- tinnitus
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