Full Case Name:

Withheld

Court:

Settled for policy limits prior to filing complaint

Case Number:

Not applicable.

Judge/Mediator/Arbitrator:

Not applicable.

Case Summary:

The plaintiffs were both 72 years old at the time of the accident and they were on vacation in Maine. The plaintiffs were leaving the Walmart parking lot at a marked intersection with overhead signal lights. The light had turned green and the plaintiffs' car was halfway through the intersection when the defendant truck driver ran a red light and totaled the plaintiffs vehicle. Eyewitnesses confirmed the fact that the truck driver ran a red light.

At the accident scene the tow truck driver noted that there were broken leaf springs on one of the rear axles. A Commercial Vehicle Truck Weight Trooper was dispatched immediately for a full investigation. A Federal Department of Transportation investigation was conducted and blood and urine samples were obtained. Driver was arrested for allegedly "Operating with a Falsified Log Book." The Trooper also issued citations to the company for allowing a driver to operate without a valid medical certificate; allowing a driver to operate an unsafe motor vehicle and allowing a driver to operate with excessive vehicle weight. State Police then contacted Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The truck driver and the company received statutory fines and the driver's license was suspended.

The centerpiece of the plaintiff's settlement brochure was an animated reenactment of the accident and a day in the life video depicting the plaintiff in the rehabilitation hospital.

Significant Legal Issues or Holdings:

Jurisdictional issues concerning suit by Massachusetts residents against Canadian trucking company and Canadian driver for an accident that occurred in Maine.

Plaintiff Characteristics:  age, work history, earnings, family, etc.

Married couple, age 72.

Liability Facts:

Defendant truck driver ran a red light.

Describe Physical Injuries by Plaintiff:

Skull fracture; aortic tear and multiple traumatic injuries

Describe Special Damages by Plaintiff:

Plaintiff Experts & Specialty (Name/Address/Phone)

Gerard D. Murphy, Accident Reconstruction Expert Accident Reconstruction, Inc. 45 Eastern Point Drive, Shrewsbury, MA 01545

(508) 791-2870

Defense Experts & Specialty (Name/Address/Phone)

Comments:  (Please add additional page(s) if necessary)

As submitting plaintiff’s attorney, I certify that the facts contained herein are true and accurate and hereby give permission to APITLAmerica® to publish this account of this case in any place they so choose, including, but not limited to, at APITLAmerica® CLEs, in any APITLAmerica® literature, on the APITLAmerica® website, in the APITLAmerica® newsletter, and in any books, articles, Powerpoints, presentations, and in any other means or method of publication or transmission in the total discretion of APITLAmerica®.  Furthermore, by my signature below, I also hereby release and provide to APITLAmerica® any copyrights to the information contained in this case report, and warrant that no other copyrights have been given to any other entity for this material.

Submitted by:

Plaintiff Attorney:Edward C. Bassett, Jr., Esq., Mirick O'Connell

Phone:                                                   Fax:

(508) 898-1501                                               (508) 983-6233

Address:

1700 West Park Drive

Email Address:

ecbassett@modl.com

City/State/Zip

Westborough, MA 01581-3941

SIGNATURE: