Los Angeles has many car accidents that are the result of a person turning left intersections without yielding to oncoming drivers. Sometimes the driver who was turning left argues that the vehicle they hit was at fault because they were speeding. In the case we’ll discuss today, that’s the exact excuse the defendant made. The good news is that their argument was not successful.
The facts of the case
A woman named Jessica Berrones was driving in Hollywood, traveling west on Franklin and approaching Orange. Hailey Andrews was stopped in the opposite left-turn lane and was waiting to turn left. Berrones came into the intersection as Andrews turned left and hit her. Berrones suffered serious injuries, including a spinal cord injury that resulted in herniated discs at C4-C5 and C5-C6. Fusions were required. She sued Andrews alleging that she was negligent.
The plaintiff’s story
The plaintiff’s attorney argued that Andrews was required to yield to traffic when turning left and that she didn’t do so. The plaintiff also argued that the actions of Andrews resulted in serious issues, including the above-mentioned disc herniations. Finally, the plaintiff argued that she began with conservative treatment before having to move on to spinal fusion surgeries.
The defendant’s story
The defendant said that the plaintiff was speeding when the accident happened and that if the defendant hadn’t been speeding, then the plaintiff could have slowed down and stopped to avoid the accident. The defendant also argued that the plaintiff wasn’t actually injured and that at most would have had a sprain or strain injury. The defendant’s attorney further argued that the disc herniations were the result of an accident that happened years before the accident. Finally, the defense claimed that the medical bills should have been just over $21,000, not the $336,000+ that was billed.
The jury trial and its results
The trial itself took five days before it was sent to the jury for deliberation. The plaintiff called a medical expert in spinal surgery and an expert in vocational rehabilitation, and the defendant had a medical expert in neurology and a BSN as a tech expert. The jury was away for five hours before coming back and delivering a verdict favoring the plaintiff.
The gross verdict was more than $872,000 for the plaintiff and against the defendant. The jury didn’t find any comparative negligence for the plaintiff and the entire award was given. About $327,000 was for economic damages and $545,000 was for noneconomic losses.
Get a free legal consultation
If you’ve been involved in a car accident in which you were injured, and where someone else was at fault, then it’s time to contact Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707 for a free legal consultation. We not only offer a free consultation but we take cases on contingency. This means that you don’t pay us until we win your case. There is no risk to you and we have as much stake in winning the maximum award as you do.
