On January 24, 2020, our client was driving southbound on Mopac traveling at or slightly below the speed limit. Our client was working for UBER at the time though our client was not driving anyone or traveling to pick someone up (so there was no Uber coverage). Suddenly, our client was blindsided by a truck crashing onto her passenger side. The impact caused our client’s front two wheels to elevate from the ground for a moment in time.

Our client was in shock. Soon afterward, our client would learn from a witness that two trucks were weaving through traffic in a chaotic and unsafe manner and appeared to be racing.

The Injuries

As a result of this collision, Our client suffered from:

• frequent headaches, dizziness including blurred vision, balance issues, and memory loss which which are all symptoms of a mTBI;
• neck pain which radiated down to her left shoulder and back, including numbness and tingling, loss of motion, and an inability to perform daily living activities;
• back pain, including, constant lower back aches, pain radiating down to her buttocks and left thigh, loss of motion, and difficulty walking for more than 20 minutes;
• arm pain, including an inability to lift more than 20 pounds;
• left hip pain;
• leg pain; and
• anxiety.

Our client endured medical treatment for 1,201 days and continues to suffer from her injuries.

The Initial Offer

Our client’s total medical bills were $52,371.05. State Farm, the insurance company for the driver that struck our client’s car offered $11,600.00 for her medical bills, pain and suffering, impairment, and mental anguish. Allstate, the insurance company for the other driver who had been racing with the State Farm insured offered $0.

We filed suit. Our client continued to get treatment resulting in her medical bills reaching $91,242.81 before trial.

Issues we Faced

We had several issues and difficulties on this case. For one, the main witness to the racing was very reluctant to help us. She spoke to us once and then stopped talking to us. However, for the purposes of a trial, a statement, even in writing is not by itself admissible. We needed her to testify under oath. We ended up forcing her testimony through a subpoena and she strongly helped our case.

We then obtained, through an expert, a projection of her future lifetime medical needs. With that in hand, we again demanded the policy limits from both drivers. Again, we were rejected with a low ball offer. By this time, we knew that the State Farm policy was for $50,000.00 and the Allstate policy was for $250,000.00.

A month before trial, both defendant’s insurance companies offered to settle our client’s claim for their respective policy limits.

A major issue for us was the Allstate driver. He was an ex police officer and denied racing. As a result, Allstate would not offer any money. To make matters worse, the Allstate policy had language that excluded coverage if the driver was engaged in street racing. This created a dilemma for us since we would need to prove he was racing to argue that he contributed to the crash and injuries, but proving he was racing would possibly allow Allstate to not have to pay under the policy.

To overcome these issues, we prepared for trial and deposed expert doctors who were attempting to refute the severity of our client’s injuries. We went to our client’s house to know her on a deeper, more personal level—to understand her plight she suffered as a result of this collision.

The Result

In sum, for our client to get adequate compensation for the suffering she undertook due to a collision she did not cause, we zealously fought until reaching a settlement amount of $330,000.00 which was all the available insurance to be had.