$1,100,000 Settlement for Rear-End Accident Victim in White Plains, New York

Court and County

Supreme, Bronx

Plaintiff Description

Our client was a 36-year-old woman with two children who was working as a construction flagger directing traffic for a Con Edison project in White Plains.

Description of Case

Our client was out for her lunch break and driving along Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains, New York when she approached and completely stopped at a red light. At this time she saw the Defendant’s vehicle come to a stop behind her. While stopped she was able to see the Defendant’s grill and license plate in her rear-view mirror, indicating that there was ample space between the two cars.

When the light turned green, the car in front of our client began to accelerate, but before our client could take her foot off the brake and progress forward she was struck in the rear by the Defendant. She was wearing a seatbelt at the time but described the impact as being very violent, causing her right knee to slam into the center console and jolting her body forwards and then backwards into the seat. The two vehicles pulled over and exchanged insurance and contact information. Our client was in a state of shock and did not immediately feel any pain, so she did not think it was necessary to call the police.

At the scene she saw that her rear bumper had been dented and that the trunk was no longer aligned as a result of the force of the collision. Our client noticed that the Defendant’s vehicle had a damaged front bumper, but when the Defense presented photos of the Defendant’s car, our client testified that the damage had been worse on the day of the accident, implying that minor repairs had been done since then.

Injuries

After exchanging contact information with the Defendant, our client continued on her way to get lunch, but when she attempted to get out of the car, she began to feel intense pain in her back and right knee. At this point, she notified her employer of the accident and drove herself to White Plains Hospital.

She began a course of conservative treatment a couple of days post-accident for her lower back and knee, which included regular physical therapy. Three months later, when conservative treatment failed to provide any relief, she was referred to an orthopedic surgeon. By this time her right knee pain had become significantly worse. The pain in her low back had also begun to radiate to her lower extremities. An MRI revealed she had herniated discs at L5-S1 which was producing her excruciating back pain. She was also found to be suffering from lateral tilting and lateral subluxation of her patella.

She required surgery to treat her herniated discs:

• Decompressive lumbar laminectomy
• Partial discectomy
• Posterior pedicle screw rod implant
• Posterior and posterolateral spinal fusion
• Autogenous bone graft

Despite her surgery, our client regularly takes medication to help her sleep and still deals with lower back pain that radiates to her lower extremities on a daily basis. This pain has made doing simple household chores such as cooking, cleaning and laundry extremely difficult and actively impacts her ability to care for her two sons. She has not returned to work since her accident and was awarded disability as a result of her lower back injury.

Settlement

This case settled for $1,100,000.

Handling Attorneys

This matter was handled by Michael J. Hurwitz and Stephen J. Murphy.