At Graham Law we respect the privacy of our clients and recognize the importance of moving on after a stressful legal battle. While the events in this case study are true, the personal information of the plaintiff mentioned here has been withheld.
Life changed for our client following her minor, single-vehicle accident on I-70 in Licking County, Ohio, where her car became disabled in the right-hand lane. An Ohio State Highway Patrol officer arrived to investigate the accident. In so doing, the officer activated his patrol car’s emergency lights and parked it directly behind our client’s disabled vehicle on I-70. The patrolman then directed our client to sit in the front seat of his patrol car while he interviewed her about the minor accident.
On that same stretch of highway, Eric Miller was driving his Dakotaland Transportation, Inc. issued semi-tractor and trailer in the right-hand lane of I-70. Dakotaland Transportation, Inc. is a South Dakota-based motor carrier that hauls, among other things, custom cabinetry for a South Dakota based shipper and cabinetry manufacturer. Without explanation, Eric Miller was unable to avoid the patrolman’s parked patrol car and crashed into the rear-end at highway speeds—severely injuring our client.
At the time of the crash, our client was in her mid-twenties. She was life flighted to Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. The truck crash caused her to suffer a life-threatening Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), leading to seizures, hemi-paralysis, and reduced cognition.
After one month of hospitalization, our client was released into a rehabilitation facility for intensive in-patient therapy. Following her discharge, she moved in with her parents and underwent outpatient therapy. Unfortunately, our client would never recover enough to live independently, nor enjoy the career she was seeking while taking classes for a Master’s degree at the time of the crash.
Graham Law sued the truck driver and the motor carrier for negligence. Prior to this crash, Eric Miller had five minor accidents within his first year of employment. Shockingly, Dakotaland Transportation, Inc. neglected to impose any disciplinary actions or mandate further training to prevent future injurious accidents like the one involving our client. Graham Law further investigated the motor carrier’s safety record and discovered a long history of crashes and serious violations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs). Additionally, the shipper/cabinetry manufacturer, who hired Dakotaland Transportation, Inc., was sued for its close control of the motor carrier’s operations and its negligence in selecting it—with its history of crashes and FMCSR violations—to haul its cabinets.
Our attorneys fought hard and secured a $3,690,000.00 settlement with the truck driver, motor carrier, and shipper, so that our client could receive the medical treatment and therapy she needed, as well as gain some peace of mind, knowing that her costs of living would be covered for the rest of her life.
DISCLAIMER: The information provided here is intended for informational use only and should not be relied upon as legal advice, nor does it guarantee a similar outcome in any event.
