Juan Altamirano was riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle on the highway when John Harrison, who was driving a rental car in the high-occupancy vehicle lane, crossed two yellow lines to the right of the lanes and then crossed the two yellow lines dividing the lanes. Altamirano’s motorcycle struck the car’s right fender and crashed.
Altamirano, who was 50 at the time, suffered multiple injuries. His injuries included a fractured right hip, spinal fractures at L1-2 and L5 and multiple complex fractures to his left foot.
Altamirano underwent a partial hip replacement, left-leg fasciotomies to relieve pressure caused by the foot fractures, wound debridements and external fixation of the foot fractures. He was later transferred to a different hospital where he underwent skin-graft procedures on his left foot.
Altamirano may require a below-knee amputation in the future. His past medical expenses totaled more than $375,000 and he will incur unspecified future medical expenses.
At the time of this collision, Altamirano was working as a wastewater technician earning about $21 per hour. He has been unable to return to his job.
Altamirano filed a lawsuit agains Harrison alleging that he made an unsafe lane change in violation of the State Motor Vehicle Code and that the unsafe maneuver caused the crash. To defend his position, Harrison argued that Altamirano was negligent in lane-splitting and speeding. The parties settled before trial for $3.27 million, which included $250,000 from Harrison’s primary auto insurance policy and $3 million from his umbrella insurance policy and just under $20,000 from Harrison’s employer’s insurance company.
The attorneys representing Juan Altamirano were Tyler J. Barnett, James P. Carr and Michael P. Ehline.
Altamirano v. Harrison, No. BC 520125 (Cal. Super. Ct. Los Angeles County, Jan. 29, 2015).
Kreisman Law Offices has been handling motorcycle accident cases, highway accident cases, truck accident cases and car accident cases for individuals and families who have been injured or killed by the negligence of another for more than 38 years, in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas including Morton Grove, Des Plaines, Deerfield, Wheeling, Vernon Hills, Buffalo Grove, Westchester, Winfield, Lake Bluff, Calumet City, South Holland, Blue Island, Grayslake, Crystal Lake, Elgin, Joliet, Aurora, St. Charles, Mundelein, Evanston, Schaumburg, Chicago (Bucktown, Wicker Park, Lakeview, West Loop, South Loop, Chinatown, Little Italy, Austin, Jackson Park), Palatine, Palos Park and Clarendon Hills, Ill.
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