CASE NAME:
Auto v. Auto
Driving Under the Influence (Confidential)
AMOUNT:
$6,200,000
FACTS:
On Nov. 6, 2015, plaintiffs were driving on State Route 85 when defendant was driving the wrong way on State Route 85 and crashed head-on into plaintiffs’ vehicle. Prior to said accident, defendant drank several shots of vodka, was under the influence of three pills of Oxycontin, smelled of alcohol from his breath and person, and showed several objective signs of intoxication.
PLAINTIFF’S CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiffs plead general negligence against intoxicated defendant driver for driving the wrong way on State Route 85.
OTHER INFORMATION:
At the time of said incident, plaintiff driver did not have automobile insurance, but was still able to recover general damages since plaintiffs’ counsel argued that due to the fact that defendant was driving under the influence of alcohol, Civil Code section 3333.4 (also referred to as Proposition 213) did not apply.
INJURIES:
The force of the impact caused plaintiff driver to suffer severe and permanent injuries to his person, including a moderate traumatic brain injury, sternal fracture, right tibula and fibula comminuted complex fracture, a lumbar transverse process fracture, left inferior iliac crest fracture, ulnar fracture, and multiple right foot fractures, as well as post-traumatic
stress disorder.
Furthermore, the force of the impact caused plaintiff passenger to suffer pain to her left wrist, left hand, two broken ribs, fractured chest, lumbar injuries, torn and trauma in the abdomen and was unresponsive after surgery. Furthermore, passenger suffered severe pain to her nose, mouth, left shoulder with occasional numbness and tingling that radiates down into the arm and into the third and fourth fingers, chest, left wrist/left hand, abdomen, left knee pain that is worse with prolonged standing and walking, and back.
RESULT: The Plaintiff received a settlement for $6.2 million.
