Pedestrian Struck by Car Resulting in Spinal Fusion Surgery
Phil Russotti settled this case after jury selection for $1,750,000. Our client was a 43 year old woman who was injured when, while standing on the curb in a bus stop waiting for the bus, she stepped into the roadway to see if the bus was arriving and was struck by the defendant's automobile. The defendant had been stopped partially in the bus stop and partially in a space and failed to look backwards before backing up in preparation of pulling into the parking space. Our client was not knocked to the ground but only stumbled a few feet. She banged on the trunk of the defendant's car to advise him that she was struck.
The defendant maintained that he had looked in his mirror when he started to move, the plaintiff was not behind him and that the plaintiff was comparatively negligent for walking into the street. The plaintiff countered that when she stepped into the street, she noted that the defendant's reverse lights were not activated and that she believed that it was safe to do so. The plaintiff also contended that it was clear that the defendant did not properly look in his mirror and that had he done so, the accident would not have occurred.
Our client, who had initial neck and back pain, contended that within two days the pain became very severe. The plaintiff maintained that she had a preexisting condition of spondylolisthesis and Pars defects in the lumbar area and although she had required chiropractic care, the symptoms were relatively mild. The accident caused a herniation in the area and because of the superimposition of the trauma on the prior condition, she suffered particularly severe pain and limitations, required lumbar surgery which probably otherwise would not have been require. She also sustained two cervical herniations and required cervical fusion surgery.