At approximately 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 20, 2008, plaintiff Parvin Hamlet Karapetian, 50, a luxury car salesman, was traveling east on Glenoaks Boulevard, passing through the intersection of Louise Street in Glendale, when he was broadsided by a sport utility vehicle operated by Thomas Warren Mathie, who was making a left turn from westbound Glenoaks Boulevard onto northbound Louise Street. Karapetian’s vehicle was pushed across the intersection and crashed into a concrete wall, causing to his left shoulder, left knee and lower back. Karapetian sued Mathie. He alleged the defendant was negligent in the operation of his vehicle. Karapetian contended that Mathie failed to yield to oncoming traffic at the intersection in question and attempted to make an unsafe left turn directly into his lane of travel. He claimed that the force of impact was so severe that his body was violently thrown about inside the vehicle, striking the interior and knocking him unconscious. The body and doors of the plaintiff’s vehicle were so deformed that the Glendale Fire Department had to use the Jaws of Life to free him from the wreck. The traffic accident report placed Mathie as being the cause of the accident. Mathie did not seriously argue liability for the accident., Karapetian was knocked unconscious during the crash and had to be extracted from the vehicle with the Jaws of Life. He was then taken by ambulance to an emergency room, where he underwent an MRI of his left knee and tests of his left shoulder and lower back. Karapetian was diagnosed with a lateral/medial meniscus tear, a rotator cuff tear, and bulging lumbar discs at the L3-4, L4-5, and L5-S1 levels. On May 21, 2010, he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and on Dec. 16, 2010, he underwent rotator cuff repair surgery with a subacromial decompression. Karapetian missed five months of work and he claimed that upon his return, he could no longer keep the hours he used to or meet the physical requirements of his job. He alleged that he was unable to do all the activities required of a top salesman, which included retrieving vehicles from various areas of the sales lot and standing for long periods of time without marked increase in his pain. He also claimed that he will eventually require a partial knee replacement of his left knee as a result of his injury. Thus, the plaintiff sought recovery of $115,000 in damages for his past medical costs, $70,000 in damages for his future medical costs (which includes a partial knee replacement surgery), $259,461 in damages for his past lost earnings, $1.25 million in damages for his future lost earnings, $300,000 in damages for his past pain and suffering, and $980,000 in damages for his future pain and suffering. Defense counsel disputed Karapetian’s assertion that his prevented him from returning to work at full capacity. Counsel contended that any reduction in the plaintiff’s earnings was due to the overall downturn of the economy in 2008.