Articles Posted in Intersection Crash

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On Aug. 31, 2015, 34-year-old Carrie Scheetz, a teacher, was driving home from work on a county road in Rock Creek Township, Ill., when a school bus approached a four-way intersection at a stop sign. There was no stop sign for traffic traveling in Scheetz’s direction.

Scheetz could see the school bus, which was driven by the defendant, Steven D. Holsted, approaching the intersection, about three-quarters of a mile away. Scheetz and the school bus did not slow down or stop at the intersection.

As Scheetz approached the intersection traveling at approximately 82 mph in a 55-mph zone, the bus was about to cross the intersection when the two vehicles crashed.

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Vilma Marenco, 54, was driving her vehicle through an intersection when a loaded 18-wheeler operated by Rodger Jones struck her car on the driver-side door.

She suffered fatal injuries in this crash. She had been a restaurant worker earning $25,000 per year and is survived by her husband and two daughters, one of whom is a minor.

Marenco’s estate sued the truck driver and his company owners including Elisa Fabiola Lopez and R&F Quality Transportation, claiming liability for the negligent entrustment and choosing not to supervise Jones. The suit also named Jones for his failure to obey and heed a red light.  Apparently Jones ran through a red light, which was a cause of the crash and unfortunate death of Marenco.

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Marc Rene, 34, was driving his sedan northbound on a two-lane road. Patrick Chancey was driving a tractor-trailer owned by Pat Salmon & Sons of Florida when he pulled out of a truck yard and made a wide turn onto the roadway.  This caused the tractor-trailer to enter the northbound lanes, which resulted in a collision with the Rene vehicle.

Rene suffered fractures to his right hip and knee and a degloving injury to his right heel. He underwent hip and knee surgeries. It is anticipated that additional surgeries are needed. Rene continues to suffer pain from these injuries and incurred medical expenses of nearly $230,700.

He sued Pat Salmon & Sons and Chancey, claiming that Chancey chose not to yield the right-of-way.  The lawsuit did not claim lost income.

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Tom Gillette parked his pickup truck in a residential neighborhood in Everett, Wash. He was there doing construction work on a home. As he was unloading sawhorses from the back of his truck, Snohomish County Sheriff’s Deputy John Sadro, who was transporting a witness to court, ran a stop sign while traveling 49 mph in a 25 mph zone. Another motorist, who had the right-of-way, broadsided the police cruiser, causing it to spin around and strike Gillette, pinning him between the police cruiser and the bumper of his truck.

Gillette was 59 years old at the time; he suffered severe crush injuries to both of his legs, which were almost fully traumatically amputated at the scene. He was hospitalized and nearly died from blood loss. Doctors were unable to save either of his legs. His left leg was amputated just below the knee while his right leg was amputated at the knee.

Gillette underwent more than 12 surgeries and spent nearly two months in the hospital. Now he uses a wheelchair and requires some assistance with daily living activities. His past medical expenses totaled more than $425,000 and his future care costs are estimated at more than $1,300,000.

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Ricky Murphy rode his bicycle across the street at an intersection when a motor vehicle driven by the defendant Stephen Lane Hare collided with him. Murphy who was 49 at the time suffered a fractured left ankle and tibia.

Because of the fractures, his ankle developed necrosis, which will necessitate a future ankle fusion surgery or an ankle replacement. Murphy’s medical expenses totaled $44,000.

As a landscaper, he was earning approximately $20,000 per year.  Now he is unable to do that job and works as a Salvation Army intake clerk at a reduced salary.

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Kerry Hogland was 36 years old when driving her sedan on a highway near Fredericktown, Mo. An employee of Town & Country Grocers of Fredericktown drove onto the highway from an on-ramp. The driver of the Town & Country Grocers vehicle did not heed a stop sign at the end of the ramp and crashed broadside into Hogland’s sedan on the passenger side.

Hogland’s vehicle spun out of control and landed in a field next to the highway.

She suffered an intracranial hemorrhage, an epidural hematoma that necessitated a craniotomy and a skull fracture that left her deaf in her right ear. A craniotomy is a surgical procedure where a bone flap is removed from the skull to allow access to the brain. The surgery removes a part of the bone from the skull to expose the brain. The bone flap is temporarily removed and then replaced after the brain surgery is completed.  Obviously, this is a very serious and dangerous surgery.

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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.

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Glen Bellamy, age 50, was driving through an intersection on a green light when his car collided with a tractor-trailer driven by Thomas Godbold. Godbold was employed by Red Classic Transit LLC. It was alleged that Godbold ran a red light, causing this crash with Bellamy’s vehicle and severely injuring him.

Bellamy suffered a traumatic brain injury. He now has difficulty with executive functions such as decision-making, and he has a short-term memory deficit. His past medical expenses paid totaled $1,300,000, and his future medical expenses and life-care costs are estimated at $4.2 million.

Bellamy was a truck driver at the time of the incident and was permanently disabled by this collision. His lost earnings, past and future are estimated to be $776,800.

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On March 13, 2011, Maria Ruth Garcia was walking northbound across Adams Street midblock near Des Plaines Street in Chicago when she was struck by the defendant’s backing car, which was allegedly going 40-50 mph in reverse. The defendant was Maureen O’Grady.

Garcia, 56, suffered a bump on her head as well as neck and back strains. She underwent 7 months of chiropractic treatments, which totaled in expenses $27,799.

O’Grady, 46, argued that she was driving westbound on Adams when she stopped at Old St. Patrick’s Church, where she backed up to access a parking lot on the south side of that street. She said she had only backed up a foot or two prior to contact with Garcia.

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On March 11, 2011, Veronica Thomas was a passenger in a taxi cab heading eastbound on Jackson Boulevard in Chicago’s Loop when the defendant cab ran a red light on southbound State Street and struck the plaintiff’s cab, which she was riding in.

As a result of the crash, Thomas, 39 at the time, sustained a neck injury, which was claimed to require a future 3-level cervical fusion, a shoulder injury, right arm numbness, thumb injury and memory problems. She spent $24,177 in medical expenses related to her injuries.

The defendant driver, Tony C. Piattoni, also a cab driver, said he was stopped at the red light at Jackson Boulevard when he saw the light a block ahead at Van Buren Street turn green and mistook it for his traffic signal. The defendant cab driver admitted negligence but contested the extent of the injuries claimed by Thomas. The defense also denied that Thomas will require a future fusion surgery.

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