Broken Femur and Wrist Leads to $575,000 Settlement
Attorney
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A 69-year-old victim of a North Carolina vehicle collision receives $575,000 in settlement of her claim arising out of her collision with a Bob Cat tractor.
In the early morning hours before light the victim was driving her vehicle on NC 214 in Columbus Country near Wrightsville, NC. She noticed headlights in front of her, which appeared to be on the opposite shoulder of the road. The vehicle was approaching her in the opposite lane of travel, and as she got closer to the vehicle it suddenly turned in front of her causing a collision in her lane of travel.
The negligent driver of the tractor testified that he was attempting to make a U-turn when the collision occurred.
The victim broke her left femur. The femur is the largest bone in the body which runs from the knee to the hip. In addition, she suffered a left wrist fracture and bruised her breast.
Her doctors did not find that she suffered any permanent impairment as a result of this collision.
The victim was hospitalized for five days and was transferred to a nursing home for rehabilitation and recovery.
Later on, she underwent two knee replacement surgeries. Her orthopedic surgeon said that although the injuries from the collision contributed to the necessity for the replacement, both knees would have had to been replaced anyway in the not to distant future.
The victims' total medical expenses were $192,346.32. Of those expenses, approximately $35,000 was attributed to her knee replacement surgeries.
In addition, the victim loss wages in the amount of $1366.40.
The victim is a widow who lived alone and was a sole operator of a sandwich shop. She had operated this sandwich shop for more than 20 years and served as a cook, waitress and bus boy. Because of these injuries she was never able to return to her sandwich shop. Her main concern after these injuries was her inability to manage her restaurant.
The case went to mediation but did not settle. The insurance companies' final offer at mediation was $450,000.
Just before trial, the parties reached a settlement which required the insurance company to pay the widow $575.000. The settlement was reached on June 8, 2007.
For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.