Car / Truck / Motorcycle / SUV Accidents

$4.5 million
Case Details: On April 27th, 2006, George Liu, a 24-year-old San Jose State senior, was operating a Kawasaki ZX6 racing motorcycle in the fast lane on Calvert Drive in San Jose. Downstream a Honda CRX in the slow lane made an illegal u-turn across the fast lane and forced a van ahead of George's motorcycle to make an emergency stop. The van stopped in time and never hit the CRX. When George jammed on his brakes, his motorcycle reared upward onto its front wheel and pitched him over the handlebars into the van as he stopped. As a result George is an L-1 paraplegic. A demand that the insurance company for the Honda pay its policy limits was denied, leading to the collection of $4.5 million. In-depth details can be found on this site, including the courtroom computer reconstruction showing how the crash unfolded from the motorcyclist's view.
See also George Liu's personal video report. George Liu v. John Doe, Santa Clara County Superior Court.

$725,000
Case Details: Wrongful death action by the parents of a 40 year-old son whose Honda Civic car was crushed by a school bus as he was stopped for traffic with his wife on a freeway in Sacramento County. She also died in the crash.
Cortinas v. San Juan Unified School District.

$1.2 million
Case Details: Wrongful death recovery for the loss of an 18 year-old against the manufacturer of an unstable SUV, which rolled when a defective rear tire failed, and the manufacturer of the tire. Both required as a condition of settlement that their names not be mentioned and that the settlements be confidential. The vehicle was being driven on a flat, level interstate highway when tire failure cause the SUV to wobble and roll. Defective product and defective design claims filed in New Mexico federal court.

$500,000
Case Details: Cement truck rollover. Robert Domenichini was ordered to deliver cement to a roadway construction site in San Francisco. Steel plates had been installed in the roadway that morning to provide a transition from the concrete surface of an intersecting street to the excavated dirt road being poured by Esquivel Grading and Paving, a subcontractor of Trinet Construction. As Mr. Domenichini backed up the steel plates gave way and shifted under his cement truck causing it to roll. The negligent contractors claimed the rollover was the driver¹s entire fault and that the failure to wear a seatbelt, which is not required under California¹s vehicle code on a construction site. Final settlement after jury selection in San Francisco Superior Court in November 2008. The recovery in this challenging liability case was not comparable to the brain injury suffered by this husband and father of two.
Domenichini v. City and County of San Francisco et al, San Francisco Superior Court

$275,000
Case Details: 20 year old suffered serious injuries (including fractures of the collarbone, shoulder, ribs and pelvis, and a collapsed lung) after her vehicle rolled over because a reckless driver violated a stop sign and crashed into her vehicle.
LaFargue v. Miranda, San Mateo County Superior Court

$3.5 million
Case Details: 19 year old passenger suffered a spinal C-7 cord injury in a rollover.
Fisher v. Pitts, Sonoma County Superior Court

$11.0 million
Case Details: A father and daughter suffered C-5/C-6 quadriplegic injuries after a multi-vehicle collision when their car was rear-ended by the defendant's tractor and trailer.
Nevarez v. Foremost Dairies

$5.0 million
Case Details: 19 year old passenger in a 1989 Toyota Camry driven by a college classmate. The Camry was equipped with automatic shoulder and manual lap seatbelts. Driver and passenger wore the automatic shoulder seatbelts, but neither were wearing manual lap seatbelt. Driver fell asleep, the car crashed and rolled over, throwing both students from the car.
Multnomah County Circuit Court No. 0109-09529

$675,000
Case Details: Following a collision on his motorcycle, 56 year old had surgery that resulted in a non-union of the tibia that went undiscovered by Kaiser Permanente for nine months following the surgery. Continuing reports of pain were ignored. MRI nine months later clearly showed the unhealed gap.
Taber v. Montgomery Services, Santa Clara County Superior Court

$925,000
Case Details: Forty year old Santa Clara Traffic Officer suffered a fractured elbow and wrist, with permanent nerve damages resulting in forced retirement, when his motorcycle was struck by a car making a u-turn.
Robert Dorsey v. Oregon Plan, Santa Clara County Action No. 712292

$1,750,000
Case Details: Whitely and Cox v. The State of California, a personal injury action against the California Highway Patrol arising from a late night pursuit of an escapee from the California Youth Authority who was driving a stolen vehicle. Depositions of 21 experts were taken in this case. The central liability issue, which was strongly disputed, was whether the CHP had activated its siren to warn the general public that it was an emergency vehicle. The fleeing escapee violated a red light and collided with plaintiffs causing multiple fractures and brain injuries. At the time of the settlement, two years post-injury, both plaintiffs were preparing to return to work.
Whitely and Cox v. The State of California

$950,000
Case Details: 28 year old Japanese development engineer with IBM Japan in Tokyo was visiting a family friend in the Bay Area when their car was hit head-on by another vehicle and she suffered extensive injuries.
Takeuchi and Kamiya v. Keegan, Monterey County Superior Court Number 92486

$1,000,000
Case Details: $1,000,000 recovery for Nicole Freeburn represents only partial compensation for a brain injury to a 16 year old who was thrown from a utility vehicle in a rollover. The SUV carried five teenagers, but had seatbelts for only four passengers. The owner and driver carried primary policy limits of $100,000/$300,000 and a $1,000,000 excess policy was shared with another injured passenger. This case illustrates the need for everyone, especially parents of teenagers, to purchase and keep in force excess Uninsured/Underinsured coverage on their own vehicles. A family excess liability and underinsured insurance rider providing coverage in excess of $1,000,000 would have been extremely valuable in this case.
Freeburn v. Wehman, Santa Clara County Superior Court action number 742048; consolidated with 746364

$750,000
Case Details: Wrongful death of a 40 year old driving his Honda Civic near Sacramento when it was crushed from the rear by a school bus operated by the San Juan Unified School District.
Cortinas v. San Juan Unified School District