“Take responsibility.” It is an expression that is frequently said but not oftentimes lived up to. In motor vehicle accident lawsuits it is not at all uncommon to see a driver or other party deny, instead of take, responsibility for causing the accident. Any attorney who handles vehicle accidents involving disastrous injuries, however, will sooner or later run into a case in which the driver simply lies about what happened in an attempt to dodge legal responsibility.
In some of these lawsuits the use of an expert is an absolute necessity. In other instances, though, the best strategy may be to let the facts of the case speak for themselves. Finding and studying every detail of the scene of the accident, speaking with all witnesses to the accident, and using good judgment might be difference in being able to rebut the story fabricated by the defendant. Look at the way the attorney representing the victim was able to position the following matter:
In this case, the driver who brought about this pedestrian accident was driving a company truck and was acting in the scope of his employment at the time of the accident. The driver lost control of the tractor-trailer which went up onto the sidewalk and crashed into a pedestrian. The driver, however, stated that the reason he lost control of his vehicle was due to a coughing fit which led to his loss of consciousness. The driver was driving the truck for his employer. This meant the employer was liable if the driver was liable. The driver and his employer thus claimed that this was a medical emergency and that he was therefore not responsible and that neither of them were liable. The direction of the case started to turn, though, as the law firm representing the victim did not accept the claims by the driver and his employer. They pursued the matter and learned that the driver had on 3 prior occassions also claimed medical emergencies were the reason he had had accidents
The employer answered with a doctor’s certificate written only sixteen days earlier than the accident clearing their employee as able to drive a tractor trailer. They introduced the certificate so as to absolve themselves of liability. The law firm investigated deeper into the issue and found that the doctor had written the certificate depending on false information provided the driver thus invalidating the certificate. What's more, the defendant never said anything about having lost consciousness to the police at the time of the accident and appeared perfectly normal.
The pedestrian hit by the truck was a fifty eight year old woman. She suffered a rupture of a ligament in her dominant thumb. She also sustained several fractures including fractures to 3 of her ribs, a displaced fracture of a clavicle, and a fractured skull. Since the defendants denied any responsibility for the accident, and consequently had no liability, the law firm that helped the woman went forward with the case all the way to trail. While in the trial the trial the law firm was able to persuade the jury that the driver had made up the story of the coughing fit and the loss of consciousness only after the plaintiff went forward with her case so as to avoid responsibility for the accident. The law firm that handled the lawsuit took it to trial and succeeded in getting a verdict in the sum of $1.2 million.
The majority of defendants are honest and give an accurate account of the way the accident happened. Many even admit that the accident was their fault. Even those who are honest in their description of the accident, however, occasionally get the details of what happened wrong. Finally though there are those that simply lie. But the attorney handling the matter had the experience and the good sense to see that something about that story of the accident simply was not right. And a jury agreed.
It takes experience to recognize when a driver’s version of the accident is suspicious, it takes the ability to spend the time and resources to uncover the true facts, and it takes the willingness to take on the challenge. But when a lawyer with the skill and the experience does a thorough workup on a case like this the outcome can be considerable.
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