Articles Posted in Auto Accidents

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The Illinois Appellate Court affirmed a decision of a Cook County judge barring testimony of the plaintiff, Bettie Payton-White, because she was more than 15 minutes late to a court-mandated arbitration session.

In November 2010, a car crash occurred between the motor vehicle driven by Bettie Payton-White and one driven by the defendant, Anthony Weir.  In August 2011, Payton-White filed a personal injury lawsuit against Weir claiming that the collision was caused by Weir’s negligent driving.  Weir denied that he was negligent, and the court assigned the lawsuit to mandatory arbitration scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on May 29, 2012.

At the arbitration session, neither Payton-White nor her representative was present.  At 8:45 a.m., after allowing a 15-minute grace period, the arbitrator entered a decision in Weir’s favor and awarded $436 in costs to Weir because of Payton-White’s failure to appear. 

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On Oct. 20, 2009, Nazmi Nomat was driving eastbound on 167th Street in Hazel Crest, Ill., when a westbound van made a left turn on Western Avenue. The left front end struck the driver’s side of Nomat’s vehicle in the intersection.

Nomat, 47, suffered multiple disc herniations that required fusion surgery, cervical disc protrusion and herniations and a right ankle sprain.  Nomat incurred $913,793 in medical expenses. He also had over a $1 million in lost income as a butcher because of his injuries. 

The defendants argued that Nomat was not injured to the extent that he claimed. They also claimed that any objective finding pre-existed this crash, most of his medical care was unnecessary and he never intended to take the butcher job that was offered months before the date of the crash.  The defendants’ attorney recommended at trial a verdict of $50,000.

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The family of Paul Katuszonek has agreed to a settlement with Goldstar Foods Inc.  The case involved Officer Katuszonek, who was killed in a traffic accident in 2012.  The Katuszonek family brought a wrongful death lawsuit, claiming that the food distributor and long-haul trucking company that employed the driver was the cause of the fatal crash with the police officer.   

The driver of the truck was charged with vehicular manslaughter and  gross negligence, which is a felony.  He was also charged, as a truck driver, for driving more hours than allowed under federal law.  The truck driver was on the road for 23 hours with only 4 ½ hours of rest when the truck ran into the back of the officer’s vehicle at 55 mph. 

According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), truck drivers who are over tired have caused more than 100,000 accidents on American highways and roads each year.  This results in approximately 40,000 injuries and 1,500 deaths.

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On June 25, 2007, 37-year-old Latroy Haynes maintained that he was walking eastbound along Cicero Avenue in the crosswalk on Archer Avenue in the city of Chicago.  He said he had a green light when he was hit by Leonarda Gonzalez’s speeding southbound car.

The impact caused Haynes’s leg to get caught in the vehicle’s wheel well.  He suffered displaced tibia-fibula fractures in his left leg.  This required open reduction internal fixation with placement of rods and screws.  Haynes had more than $32,000 in medical bills.

The defendant, Leonarda Gonzalez, contended that she had a green light and that Haynes darted out south of the crosswalk from between two vehicles in the adjacent southbound lanes to the right. Gonzalez, age 54, said she did not see Haynes before the impact.  The contact between Haynes and the Gonzalez vehicle occurred on the passenger side of her car.

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Liam O’Neill bought a 2000 GMC Jimmy SUV.  On July 3, 2001, his wife, Mary, was driving home in the SUV when the vehicle suddenly stopped.  She was in the eastbound lane of a 2-lane street.  Mary attempted to restart the SUV several times but it would not start.

She called a tow truck and her husband came out to help her push the SUV off the road. Mary then turned on her hazard lights and Liam pushed the car on the driver’s side, while steering. Mary pushed from behind.

While the O’Neills were trying to move the SUV, a car driven by Raymond Martin struck the rear of the SUV.  Liam was knocked to the ground and Mary’s legs were pinned between the two vehicles, which led to her legs being amputated above the knee.  Other cars had passed the O’Neills’ SUV while it was stopped without incident. The weather was clear and there were no visual obstructions or obstacles that hindered a view of the O’Neills’ stalled vehicle. 

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On Aug. 10, 2009, Dolores Trujillo was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Adam Delgado.The Delgado vehicle was involved in a collision.  Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance insured Delgado and his car.  The other car involved in the collision was insured by American Access Insurance Co.

Trujillo settled her claim against American Access for $20,000, which was the policy limit, and then settled her claim against Delgado for the $100,000 insurance policy limit on his Allstate policy. 

Trujillo also claimed $80,000 from Allstate as under-insured motorist coverage. The $80,000 represented the difference between Allstate’s maximum under-insured coverage $100,000 and the $20,000 she received from American Access.

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On June 3, 2011, Thomas Schrey alleged that he was standing with his bike at the corner of 55th Street and Western Avenue in Clarendon Hills, Ill.  Schrey said he was waiting to cross 55th Street when the defendant, Pamela Herman, was driving her car eastbound; Herman’s car left the roadway and struck Schrey and his bicycle. 

Schrey was a 65-year-old retiree and was not knocked down by the passing car. He suffered a left elbow fracture, which required open reduction internal fixation surgery.  His medical bills were $49,000.

The defendant argued that Schrey was seated on his bike on the sidewalk, chose not to look for traffic and then rode his bike into the side of Herman’s vehicle.

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On Jan. 21, 2010, Dean Economos, 18, was driving eastbound on Peterson Avenue near Rogers Avenue in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago when he rear-ended the plaintiff’s car, which was stopped. Economos’s car was traveling at 30-35 mph. 

One of the plaintiffs, 23-year-old Ana Aguilar, sustained soft tissue neck and back strains with no lost time from her job.  Her mother was also in the car. She was 40-year-old Herculana Nieto, who claimed that she suffered a herniated cervical disk in the neck and soft tissue injuries to her back. She claimed $28,202 in medical bills, but only $18,621 of those bills was allowed into evidence. Nieto claimed no lost time from work. Both of the women are factory workers. 

The defense admitted that Economos was negligent when he rear-ended the Aguila car. However, Economos denied that the proximate cause of the plaintiffs’ injuries were related to the rear-end crash.  In fact, Economos pointed out the fact that Aguilar waited 16 days before she sought medical care and that Nieto waited 25 days before she received any medical attention.

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On Aug. 13, 2011, Roland P. Wilson was crossing the street after leaving the tavern, Hot City Lounge, 7342 S. Racine Ave., Chicago, Ill., when he was hit by a vehicle that fled the scene. Wilson,  66, suffered a fractured right leg and required surgery.  Wilson believed the hit and run vehicle belonged to Sammie Cooper, who had been another patron at Hot City Lounge. Wilson was not clear as to whether Cooper was the driver, however.

Wilson told the police in December 2011 that he had obtained a license plate number.  The license plate was traced to Cooper who had subsequently become incapacitated due to an unrelated medical condition.  The police did not conduct any investigation.

Wilson filed a negligence lawsuit against Cooper and a Dram Shop Act claim against Hot City Lounge and its individual owner. 

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On Dec. 1, 2008, Sarah Conway, Kathleen O’Toole and Mary Heidkamp were passengers in Joan Steenveld’s car when it was broadsided by the defendant, Lynnard McCullough, who was driving a tractor-trailer. All but Steenveld perished in the crash. Both of the vehicles skidded off a snowy, icy road.  Steenveld’s southbound car skidded over the center line in front of McCullough’s northbound truck; he was trying to avoid a head-on collision.  Steenveld steered to the right, driving into an empty field, but her car also went off the road again winding up in the truck’s path. 

The attorney for the estates of the deceased plaintiffs asked the Cook County judge to instruct the jurors that one or more of the defendants was liable to the plaintiffs.  It was alleged that either Steenveld or McCullough or both must have been driving too fast for conditions and thus, were liable for the deaths of the decedents.  The speed limit at the place of the crashes was 55 mph, although Steenveld testified she was going 35 mph. 

Two witnesses testified that McCullough’s speed was 40-45 mph.  In addition, there was an expert who testified that McCullough’s evasive maneuver was appropriate.  Without an objection, the Cook County trial judge granted a motion in limine that requested an order barring “any argument, evidence, reference or suggestion that anything other than the alleged negligence of the defendants caused or contributed to cause plaintiffs’ injuries.”

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