Car Insurance

Zavala v. Burlington Motor Carriers, Inc., Tex., Webb County 111th Jud. Dist. Ct., No. 98-CVE-01174-D2, Jan. 24,2000.

Zavala, 23, her sister, 16, and her sister’s friend, 20, were passengers in a car traveling on a highway. The driver reportedly had poor visibility due to heavy fog. The car collided with a truck that had jackknifed and blocked all lanes of traffic after attempting to back up to a missed exit. The driver of the car suffered fatal injuries.

Zavala suffered severe traumatic brain injury, including a subarachnoid hemorrhage, a right frontal contusion, and an open skull fracture. She has permanent brain damage resulting in loss of motor and cognitive functions. Her medical expenses totaled approximately $137,800. She had been a student and has been unable to return to school. She also had been bilingual before the accident, but can now speak only Spanish.

Her sister suffered fractures of her cheekbones, nose, and orbital floor, requiring extensive plastic surgery. Her medical expenses totaled about $63,900. A high school student, she was able to earn her diploma following the accident. The friend suffered a lacerated elbow and scalp, fractures to his right hand and left thumb, and herniated disks. His medical expenses totaled approximately $45,700. He had been a delivery driver earning $8.50 per hour. He has not returned to work.

The passengers sued the owner of the truck and the driver, alleging negligence in backing up a truck on a highway. Plaintiffs also claimed the driver was inadequately trained and that the owner of the truck should have had a policy requiring a supervising driver to stay awake and provide actual supervision for trainee drivers. At the time of the accident, the driver’s supervisor was asleep in the truck.

The parties settled for $11.5 million. The apportionment among plaintiffs is undisclosed.

Plaintiffs’ experts included Bill Greenlees, accident reconstruction, San Antonio, Tex.; Pamela Lewis, vocational rehabilitation, Houston, Tex.; and Aaron Lloyd, pain management; Leora Peiser, psychiatry; and Jerold Lancourt, orthopedics, all of Dallas, Tex.

Defendants’ experts were Kenneth A. Thompson, truck safety, Louisburg, Kan.; and A.O. Pipkin, accident reconstruction, Dallas, Tex.