Semi Tractor Trailer Accident Causes Catastrophic Injuries, Quadriplegia
Mark W. Clark and the Clark Fountain team represented a family of five on vacation in Florida, who sustained catastrophic injuries including quadriplegia and traumatic brain damage when a commercial semi-tractor-trailer made an improper right turn from the left lane across the clients’ lane of travel. As a result, the driver of the clients’ vehicle was forced to take evasive action but was still unable to avoid colliding with the trailer of the rig. Clark established that the driver of the tractor-trailer violated key provisions of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR), which require drivers of commercial vehicles to make a right hand turn “as close as practicable to the right-handed curb or edge of the roadway” and to ensure that no vehicles are passing them or otherwise in their path of travel before beginning their turn. One of the clients was rendered quadriplegic requiring 24-hour-a-day care for the remainder of his life. The initial medical bills alone were well over $1 million and his future medical care needs exceeded $15 million. Our client’s doctors opined that he could live into his 70s with quality medical care. Fortunately, our firm was able to obtain a multi-million dollar recovery from the trucking company’s insurance carriers, and provide financial security for our clients in this case.