On March 26, 2009, plaintiff Felicity Walker, 24, was operating her Honda Civic when she was rear-ended by a vehicle operated by Burt Beveridge. She claimed spinal in relation to the accident. Walker sued Beveridge and the owner of the vehicle, Robert McKeirnan. She alleged that Beveridge was negligent in the operation of his vehicle and that McKeirnan was vicariously liable for Beveridge’s actions. McKeirnan was ultimately dismissed from the case on the eve of trial when he stipulated that he was vicariously liable, but that his car was driven without permission by his auto mechanic, Beveridge. Beveridge conceded liability for the accident, but claimed that it was not a serious impact., A few hours after the collision, Walker was seen at the University of California, Santa Barbara walk-in clinic. She told the doctor that she had planned to go snowboarding the next day and wanted to know if it was okay to go. The doctor cleared her for snowboarding, but the next day, Walker reported that she could only take two runs because she did not feel well. Walker returned to the doctor two weeks later, complaining of mid-back pain. Eleven months later, she was diagnosed with T6-7 degenerative disc disease with a central protrusion, an annular fissure and a moderate impression on the ventral aspect of the thoracic cord, without evidence of neural foraminal narrowing at any level. Walker claimed she did not initially feel the symptoms because it takes time for the disc material to leak into the spinal canal and cause symptoms. She ultimately had several rounds of physical therapy, two epidural injections, and many office visits with her orthopedics expert and treating physician before she had a second accident on Nov. 10, 2011, which was very similar to the first crash. Walker claimed past medical expenses of $68,667.63 for before the second collision and approximately $40,000 in past medical expenses after the second collision. She claimed that she will require two epidural injections per year for two to three years, resulting in future medical expenses between $8,000 and $10,000 per injection. In addition, she claimed she will require four follow-up doctor visits per year at $200 per visit, medications at $500 per year, six to eight physical therapy sessions per year at $100 to $150 per session, and an MRI every two years at $2,000 per MRI. In addition, Walker asserted she will need physical therapy, doctor visits, and MRI’s for her lifetime, or until she chooses to undergo surgery, depending on her pain level. She claimed that if she does decide to have surgery, it would cost $200,000. However, she claimed she wanted to avoid surgery at all costs, but her orthopedics expert opined that she would likely elect fusion surgery within five to 10 years. In addition, Walker claimed that the initial collision caused the frame of her Honda Civic to become bent, resulting in $3,100 in damages. Defense counsel contended that Walker’s mid-back was not injured in the collision, as evidenced by the fact that she went snowboarding the next day. Counsel argued that because Walker went for months without treatment and tried to do many activities, including snowboarding, bicycling, running 10 miles after an epidural injection, traveling to Australia and other activities, she was not as injured as she claimed. Thus, defense counsel argued that Walker only suffered a whiplash injury for a short period of time and should only be awarded approximately $2,000 in past medical bills, and $4,000 to $6,000 in non-economic damages. The experts for both the plaintiff and defense testified that the second accident exacerbated Walker’s mid-back injury for a short period of time. Plaintiff’s counsel responded that Beveridge was trying to avoid personal responsibility, as he allegedly did not call for help when Walker told him she was injured in the crash and asked him to call for help.