Articles Posted in Auto Accidents

by

On April 7, 2010, Jeffrey and Stephanie Hadary were involved in an automobile crash with Carlos Velez. Velez was driving a car owned by Hertz Corp.  Both the Hadarys and Velez were insured; the Hadarys had insurance through Safeway Insurance Co. They paid a monthly premium of $57. The Hadarys’ policy included underinsured motorist coverage up to $100,000 per person or $300,000 per occurrence.

Velez did not carry insurance through Hertz, but was insured through American Access Casualty Co. for a maximum of $20,000 per person or $40,000 per occurrence.

In line with Illinois law, Hertz was required to insure the operator of its rented cars at a minimum of $50,000 per person or $100,000 per incident. The Hadarys recovered $40,000 from American Access as Velez’s insurer, but this amount did not cover their extensive injuries from this incident.

Continue reading

by

Petar Kuzmanov, 23 at the time of a car accident, was a backseat passenger in a car driven by Hristo Hristov. Lauren Weiner was in the front seat passenger side allegedly engaged in a sexual act with Hristov while he was driving. Distracted, Hristov swerved onto a grassy median. As he moved the vehicle back onto the roadway, it overturned, struck a guardrail and was hit by 3 other vehicles including a fully loaded tractor-trailer and a pickup truck.

 

Kuzmanov was comatose for several months after the crash. He sustained a traumatic brain injury, which has affected his speech and cognitive abilities. He now requires therapy and assistance with daily living activities. He also suffered an amputation of his left index finger, degloving injuries to his right foot and a fractured right femur that required surgery. His medical bills were $530,000.

 

The guardian for Kuzmanov filed a lawsuit against Hristov and Weiner, the drivers involved in the subsequent collisions and the owner of the pickup truck, alleging negligent failure to safely operate their respective vehicles. It was also claimed that the defendants were traveling at an unsafe speed and made other claims of negligence. The lawsuit did claim lost income.

Continue reading

by

Miguel Klesowitch filed a lawsuit against the defendant Chiquita Smith to recover for damages allegedly suffered as a result of the defendant’s negligence.  The trial judge granted summary judgment in favor of Klesowitch on the issue of defendant’s negligence only, leaving consideration of whether any of the plaintiff’s conduct was a proximate cause of his injuries and the amount of damages for trial.  At the trial before the jury, the judge admitted certain medical bills into evidence.  Portions of those bills had been written off by the medical providers.  The jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff for the full amount of the medical bills admitted into evidence.  The verdict was affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded back to the trial court with instructions.

On June 28, 2008, the plaintiff, Miguel Klesowitch, alleged that the defendant, Chiquita Smith, drove her car into the Klesowitch vehicle.  Smith drove her vehicle into an intersection without stopping at a stop sign and into the left side of Klesowitch’s vehicle.  Smith admitted not stopping because she did not see the stop sign.  The lawsuit complaint alleged that Klesowitch was injured physically, by expending large sums of money for medical expenses to be cured of said physical injuries and by lost money from being unable to pursue his usual occupation.  Smith filed an answer and affirmative defenses alleging that Klesowitch was guilty of contributory negligence.

In July 2014, Klesowitch filed a motion for summary judgment “on the issue of liability.”  Klesowitch’s motion asserted that at Smith’s deposition, she “set forth testimony indicating that she was clearly at fault for the accident.”

Continue reading

by

A motorcyclist was riding behind a car driven by the defendant who was a car dealership employee. The defendant driver suddenly made a U-turn, causing the motorcyclist to catapult over the car’s hood.

The plaintiff motorcyclist suffered multiple fractures, including a wrist fracture that required surgery.

The medical expenses for the motorcyclist were $55,000. He was an automotive technician but is now unable to return to his job. He had been earning about $60,000 per year.

Continue reading

by

Russell Sheaffer was a graduate film student at Indiana University. He was in California making a documentary and was driving in moderate stop-and-go traffic on a freeway. As he was stopped in the line of traffic, Thomas Mose, driving a tanker truck for NuCO2, rear-ended a vehicle two cars behind Sheaffer’s while traveling at about 25 mph. A chain-reaction impact occurred. The car behind Sheaffer’s rear-ended his car causing his seat to break. His car was then propelled into the SUV in front of him.

Sheaffer suffered multiple skull and facial fractures, including fractures to his jaw and sinus, and a traumatic brain injury. He underwent open reduction internal fixation of the jaw, and his jaw was wired shut for 8 weeks. The trauma and fractures caused Sheaffer to develop ischemic bone disease, osteoarthritis of the jaw, and deterioration and degeneration of the condyles and mandible. A condyle is the smooth surface area at the end of the bone forming a part of a joint. His past medical expenses totaled $141,900.

Sheaffer continues to suffer from chronic pain and he will require additional surgeries and therapies to treat jaw pain and other problems. In addition, the brain injury has adversely affected his memory and his ability to cope with his jaw injuries. Sheaffer still plans a career in filmmaking, but he is no longer able to function at the level he was accustomed to before this crash.

Continue reading

by

The issue before the Illinois Appellate Court was whether the parties’ high-low agreement was a settlement agreement and if so, whether interest pursuant to Section 2-1303 of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure accrues on an award that is predetermined by that high-low agreement. Mark Pinske thought he was entitled to 9% post-judgment interest on $100,000 of the $194,000 arbitration award he received against Lawrence White.

The arbitration award was made under a hybrid mediation/arbitration contract that also contained a high-low agreement. Pinske and White’s automobile insurer, Allstate Property & Casualty Insurance Co. agreed that Allstate would pay at least $50,000, but no more than $100,000 for injuries, that Pinske suffered in an automobile crash with White. The agreement asked a retired Cook County judge to mediate and that if the mediation effort failed, then to arbitrate the dispute for a binding result.

When Pinske sued for judgment on the award, he relied on Section 2-1303 of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure. That section starts by saying “judgments recovered in any court shall draw interest at the rate of 9% per annum until satisfied.” The section also provides that “when judgment is entered upon any award, . . . interest shall be computed at the above rate, from the time when made or rendered to the time of entering judgment upon the same, and included in the judgment.”

Continue reading

by

On June 20, 2010, Delores Franklin and Todd Gryczewski were in an automobile crash. Slightly more than two years later, on June 12, 2012, Gryczewski sued Franklin for injuries he suffered in that crash. Franklin died on Nov. 24, 2011. Gryczewski had no knowledge of his death at the time of the filing.

About two weeks later, a law firm appeared on Franklin’s behalf and filed a motion to appoint a special administrator. Bob Phillip was appointed special administrator on July 17, 2012.

On June 23, 2014, Phillip filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. Phillip argued that the court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction because the named defendant, Franklin, was dead. Phillip also argued that the suit had fallen beyond the statute of limitations because it failed to satisfy the requirements needed to file a lawsuit against a deceased person. The court agreed and dismissed the case with prejudice. Gryczewski appealed.

Continue reading

by

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.

Continue reading

by

On May 16, 2012, Jeremiah Guthrie was attempting to walk eastbound across Central Avenue just south of the intersection of Harrison Street in Chicago. He made it across one lane (the southbound right lane) when he was hit in the second lane (the southbound left lane) by the motorcyclist and defendant Jaroslaw Baranek, who was southbound.

Guthrie, 53, suffered fractures to his left ankle, tibia, fibula and wrist as well as a puncture wound to his left calf. His medical bills were $140,488. There was no claim for lost time from work.

The defendant stipulated to plaintiff’s injuries and medical expenses, but denied the defendant, a 32-year-old electrician, was at fault and contended that the plaintiff was more than 50% at fault for his own injuries because he crossed the street at mid-block.

Continue reading

by

Carol Keiser-Long’s claim for decreased earning capacity from an automobile accident she was involved in presented a question about her compensatory damages. She was never salaried or received dividends from her solely owned cattle-brokering business. The company, C-Bar, was set up as a separate entity, a C corporation.

She was the sole employee and left all of the profits in the company as retained earnings. She thought that the retained earnings would act as a retirement account that she would eventually start drawing on as income when she quit working. Retained earnings are generally taxable at the end of each calendar or fiscal year.

The car belonging to defendant Kirk Owens, alleged to have run through a stop sign while intoxicated, broadsided Keiser-Long’s vehicle on a rural road in Champaign County, Ill., and admitted liability before trial.

Continue reading