Ruppersburg Injury & Accident Attorneys recently settled a case against Allstate Insurance Company for $150,000 on behalf of an Atlanta man who suffered a car accident while crossing the street. He broke his foot in the wreck, requiring two surgeries to repair. The settlement was five times his medical bills, which were a little more than $30,000.
THE CAR ACCIDENT
Mr. S lived in Candler Park and was walking to a local coffee shop one morning. He was crossing the street in a crosswalk and had made sure it was safe to cross before entering the crosswalk. He had nearly reached the other side of the street when he realized an oncoming car driven by an elderly driver wasn’t going to stop. He was almost able to dash out of the way but was clipped by the car and thrown to the ground.
THE INJURIES
Other than scrapes and bruises, Mr. S initially thought he was fine. He tried to “walk it off” and realized his foot hurt and that he couldn’t put weight on it. He was taken by ambulance to Grady Hospital, where he was diagnosed with several fractures in his foot. The fractures required surgery to repair, which involved inserting a metal wire into his foot. When his foot didn’t heal correctly, he had to undergo a second surgery which involved removing the first wire and inserting another one.
Between the two surgeries, Mr. S was off his feet and unable to walk without crutches for quite some time. He ultimately made a good recovery and is doing fine, though his foot does bother him a bit after standing for long periods of time or sometimes after he goes running.
LAWSUIT & SETTLEMENT
The elderly driver admitted that she just didn’t see Mr. S and was cited for failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk. She paid the ticket and admitted she was at fault for the car accident. When we tried to resolve the case without filing a lawsuit, Allstate disputed that Mr. S’ injuries and surgeries were caused by the wreck and offered his medical bills plus a couple thousand dollars. We took the case to court and after getting testimony from Mr. S’ doctor that his surgeries were caused by the wreck, Allstate finally offered a $150,000 settlement, which Mr. S accepted.