$25 Million Jury Verdict in Bus/Passenger Injury Lawsuit

Jaccolah Johnson was 66 and had limited mobility when she used the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) mobility bus to get to appointments and other local trips.

On one occasion, Johnson attempted to exit the bus while carrying two bags with one arm and a Bible tucked underneath the other arm. Johnson refused the driver’s offer of assistance, and the driver stayed buckled into his seat.

She walked down the bus’s angled steps, lost her balance, fell down the steps, and hit the back of her head on the curb.

Johnson suffered a traumatic brain injury, which left her in a persistent vegetative state.

Her daughter brought this lawsuit on her behalf and sued MARTA, alleging that it chose not to train its driver to follow MARTA policies and procedures, which required drivers to shadow riders with disabilities who refused help as they exited a bus.

The Johnson lawsuit also maintained that the bus at issue had narrow and angled steps. The bus also lacked handrails, which created a fall hazard.

The jury signed a verdict for $25 million finding that Johnson was 25% responsible for her own injuries for reportedly failing to accept the driver’s offer of assistance.

The attorneys handling this case for Johnson and her family were Michael L. Goldberg, Joseph A. Fried, Melanie Eyre and Donald Singleton.

At trial, the Johnson attorneys presented an expert in paratransit.

Tyler v. Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, No. 2017 CV 287279 (Ga. Super. Ct. Fulton County).

Kreisman Law Offices has been handling traumatic brain injury lawsuits, nursing home abuse and negligence lawsuits, transportation injury cases, pharmaceutical defect lawsuits and product liability cases for individuals, families and loved ones who have been injured, harmed or killed by the carelessness or negligence of another for more than 40 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Wilmette, Morton Grove, Skokie, Wheeling, Arlington Heights, South Barrington, Long Grove, Buffalo Grove, Hawthorne Woods, Libertyville, Vernon Hills, Grayslake, Round Lake Beach, Gurnee, Waukegan, Zion, Barrington Hills, Schaumburg, Streamwood, Bartlett, Hanover Park, Bloomingdale, Lake Zurich, Lombard, Westmont, Burr Ridge, Bedford Park, Chicago (McKinley Park, Lower West Side, Little Italy, Near West Side, Wicker Park, Belmont Cragin, Ravenswood, Edgewater, Westridge, West Rogers Park, Jefferson Park, Edison Park, Avondale, Bucktown, Near North Side, Near South Side, Little Village), Maywood, Forest Park and Melrose Park, Ill.