There was a recent California motorcycle accident case that’s gotten personal injury attorneys talking. The case involved a car driver who was sued for negligence and the plaintiff – a motorcycle driver – was awarded more than $1 million in damages. Keep reading to get the details – and to find out what’s so unusual about this case – and then contact Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707 for a free legal consultation.
The background on this case
In the case in question, the plaintiff was riding his motorcycle on Highway 101 in the first lane of traffic. It was 9 AM on a Monday morning. The defendant was allegedly distracted by the custom license plates on another vehicle and didn’t realize that traffic in front of him had slowed. He slammed on his brakes when he did notice, and in avoiding hitting the car in front of him, his car fishtailed and got into the second lane of traffic.
The plaintiff said that he saw the driver lose control and as a result he moved into the second lane to avoid hitting the car of the defendant. When the defendant hit the car in front of him and then fishtailed into the second lane, he hit the motorcycle rider and dragged him across two lanes of traffic.
The plaintiff says that the defendant was negligent in his driving because he was speeding and not paying attention to the road. The defendant says that the plaintiff was actually negligent because he was tailgating. The plaintiff suffered from a fractured hip and blood clots, which did require him to get surgery.
The results at the trail and beyond
Initially, this case lasted seven days and the jury deliberated for three hours. They found that the defendant was indeed negligent and as a result they awarded the plaintiff non-economic damages of $900,000 and economic damages of nearly $300,000. However, there was an error in the jury verdict form in that it didn’t have specific instructions about comparative negligence. As a result, there was a retrial and the motorcyclist was found to have no comparative negligence.
California’s comparative negligence laws
In the state of a California, a plaintiff is able to recover the same percentage of damages as the defendant was deemed to be negligent. In short, it means that if a victim was partially at fault for the accident in which they were injured, then their verdict would be reduced by the percentage of fault they were found to have.
These laws can get confusing and complicated. This is why you need an experienced personal injury on your side. Not only do we need to prove that the other party was at fault, but we need to prove that your fault was small. If you’ve been involved in an accident and believe you may have a case on your hands then we recommend you contact Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707. We are happy to begin the process by offering a free legal consultation.
