Articles Posted in Auto Accidents

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The Illinois Appellate Court weighed the application of the Illinois Health-Care Services Lien Act in an underinsured-motorist case. On Nov. 5, 2009, in Murphysboro, Ill., a car driven by Lori Maramba crossed the center line and struck a vehicle driven by David McRoberts. Caitlyn McRoberts and Kim McRoberts were passengers with David McRoberts, all of whom suffered injuries and damages. The defendant had a liability insurance coverage limit of $50,000. The McRoberts family collected all of that and additionally made claim under their underinsured-motorist benefits policy. The underinsurance allowed for the payment of an additional $50,000 to the McRoberts family.

The medical bills paid to the McRoberts family exceeded the settlement. That included the payment of both the tortfeasor’s insurance policy and the McRoberts family’s underinsurance policy.The total amount of the medical bills incurred was in excess of $321,000. 

Several of the health-care providers filed liens in compliance with the Health-Care Services Lien Act. The plaintiffs, the McRoberts family, filed a petition to adjudicate the medical liens on Dec. 1, 2011. The trial court held a hearing on the petition on Dec. 9, 2011. The trial judge allowed for application of the Health-Care Services Lien Act wherein 40% of the settlement amount of both the underlying tortfeasor insurance policy and the underinsurance were applied at 40% of the settlement. That means 40% of the $50,000 of the underinsurance policy was also distributed in proportional shares to the lien holders who had filed appearances with the court.

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A bill signed into law by Illinois Gov. Patrick J. Quinn permits the Illinois Secretary of State to retroactively invalidate a driver’s license if the minor had a citation for which a disposition had not been rendered when the license was issued. In other words, a permit driver, 18 years old or younger, who has a pending traffic ticket, will be unable to obtain an Illinois driver’s license. 

This new law is effective immediately. The House Bill 1009 was sponsored by Rep. John D’Amico and Sen. Martin Sandoval, both Chicago Democrats.

In addition, the new law allows prosecutors to request the court to invalidate a driver’s license if he or she caused death or serious injury while breaking traffic rules.

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This case was brought before a jury panel twice. These were the facts:  On Sept. 6, 2006, Michael Lynn was bicycling on the sidewalk facing eastbound on the southwest corner of 33rd Street and Wentworth Avenue in Chicago when he was struck by the defendant’s car driven by James Miller. Miller had been driving southbound on Wentworth with a green light when he swerved to avoid another bicyclist who ran a red light on westbound 33rd Street.  This caused Miller to lose control, jump the curb and hit a tree.

Lynn, 21, who was entirely without fault, sustained a closed head injury, loss of consciousness, traumatic brain injury, four-part comminuted fracture of the left shoulder which was unoperated and bruises.

Lynn was taken by ambulance to Stroger Hospital in Chicago, where he suffered respiratory arrest, was intubated and was sedated in a four-day induced coma. 

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A federal court jury entered a $393,750 verdict for the plaintiff, Carmen Santillan, 47, who was driving her SUV westbound on Interstate 90 in Chicago when her car was rear-ended by a semi-tractor-trailer driven by the defendant, Daniel Ducharme.  Ducharme was employed by Martin’s Bulk Milk Service, Inc. The crash, on July 11, 2008, was with great force in that the impact bent the rear frame of Santillan’s SUV and pushed the SUV ahead. 

Carmen was taken to Lutheran General Hospital, where she remained hospitalized for four days with knee, back and neck pain. She was later diagnosed with a herniated L5-S1 disc. She also claimed right knee and shoulder trauma, which required injections. This  led to permanent disability. She never returned to work after the accident and currently receives Social Security disability benefits. Her medical bills totaled $104,000. Carmen was an airline reservation clerk for 18 years before the crash.

The defendant, Ducharme, claimed that the crash took place because he was trying to free his floor mat, which had become trapped under the accelerator pedal. Liability was admitted by the defendants. The case was tried on damages only. Before the conclusion of the trial, the parties discussed high/low parameters, but could not reach an agreement on that.

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A class action lawsuit has been filed against Travelers Insurance Co. alleging that it misled injured individuals in car accident cases against Travelers’ insureds.  The case, filed in the Chancery Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County by Sabrina Roppo, alleges that when she was injured in a car accident with a Travelers’ insured. Dhe was advised that the policy of insurance provided to the wrongdoer was $500,000. 

However, it was discovered that there was an additional $1 million umbrella policy that Roppo alleges was not disclosed to her by Travelers. According to the lawsuit, even though the Travelers’ insured paid a premium for the $1 million umbrella coverage, the company chose not to disclose that the umbrella policy was available. 

The lawsuit contends that Roppos suffered additional financial losses because of the misrepresentation. The lawsuit also states that about 500 other individuals injured by Travelers’ insureds were affected by this practice dating back to 1988. The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages.

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In 2007, Illinois amended the Wrongful Death Act to add language saying, “including damages for grief, sorrow and mental suffering.” The language was added to the description of available wrongful death damages.

According to this Chicago federal court case, Hammond v. System Transport, Inc., the Illinois legislature’s intentions in amending the wrongful death statute “was to compensate for the spouse’s and next of kin’s emotional consequences from the end of a decedent’s life, including the process or manner of death.”  The damages, grief, sorrow and mental suffering resulting from the manner of death may be compensable under the Wrongful Death Act, according to the case opinion.

However, the court held that “evidence of defendant Austin’s [the truck driver’s] negligence, such as the allegation that he violated rules limiting the hours he could work before resting, which resulted in his falling asleep and running a stop sign, is not relevant to plaintiff’s claim.” 

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Heike Wehrle and Robert Wehrle were severely injured in an auto crash with a drunk driver who had minimal insurance coverage.  The Wehrles had an underinsured motorist insurance policy with Cincinnati Insurance Co. that paid the difference between their $1 million coverage limit and the $200,000 that they received from the at-fault driver. 

The Wehrles sued Cincinnati claiming that they were entitled to the full $1 million of underinsurance rather than $800,000, which was the difference between the $1 million provided by Cincinnati and the $200,000 provided by the insurance company for the tortfeasor drunk driver.

The Wehrles were driving their sport-utility vehicle in Kane County, Ill., in December 2010.  They were hit by a drunk driver, Eric Barth. The Wehrles were severely injured and their medical expenses and damages far exceeded the policy limits of either Barth’s insurance or their own underinsurance policy. 

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Pedestrian Eusebio Camacho was struck and injured when crossing midblock at night by defendant Michael Lynch’s eastbound car. Camacho received a $56,803 verdict although a 50 percent comparative fault reduction was entered by the jury. 

The accident occurred on Oct. 12, 2010 when Camacho was walking northbound across Irving Park Road in Chicago in the middle of the block at night. He was hit by Lynch’s car. The car had crossed over the double yellow median lines as Lynch was trying to gain access to the left-turn lane. 

Camacho, 44, suffered a fractured tibia and torn rotator cuff.  He lost four months of work as Walgreen’s store manager. 

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In this auto accident case, the defendant insurance company, Safeway Insurance Co., insured Ruben Delatorre under a policy of insurance with a limit of $40,000. Safeway hired an attorney to represent Delatorre in the personal injury lawsuit brought against Delatorre. However, the lawyer for Delatorre/Safeway never submitted a bill and was never paid. The lawyer apparently abandoned the case, and a default judgment was entered against Delatorre in the amount of $250,000. 

Then the plaintiff in the auto-injury case received an assignment from  Delatorre allowing the personal injury plaintiff to sue Safeway directly for the excess judgment. 

The judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County granted the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment, ruling that Safeway breached its duty to defend and was liable for the entire $250,000 judgment.

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Dorma Lawson, age 59, was driving northbound on Western Avenue in Chicago Heights, Ill., when she stopped to make a left turn into a bank parking lot north of Lincoln Highway. Lawson’s car was then rear-ended by a Kickert school bus. Lawson claimed that she sustained soft tissue injuries to her neck, back and left knee. She had arthroscopic knee surgery, which showed that she did not have a torn meniscus.

Lawson is on disability due to a hip injury alleged to have been caused by this crash. The defendant bus driver, Patricia Savage, age 34, claimed that Lawson made a sudden stop and did not use her left turn signal. This, Savage said, was the cause of the crash. 

The defendants also argued that the impact was very minor. Defendants maintained that Lawson was not injured to the extent that she claimed, and that her disability was unrelated to the crash.

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