Man, stopped for traffic, killed in rear-ender – $1.45 Million Settlement

Plaintiff’s decedent, a 60-year-old divorced man survived by his adult daughter, was fatally injured in an auto collision on one of the many Tidewater bridge crossings. Decedent, driving an old model sedan with a rear-mounted gas tank, was stopped for backed-up traffic when he was rear-ended by a distracted driver traveling 63 MPH. Defendant’s vehicle neither braked nor swerved before collision as recorded by the three-quarter ton late model pickup truck Event Data Recorder. Decedent’s vehicle traveled 112 feet following impact and immediately burst into flames. Autopsy indicated decedent was killed on impact. Decedent’s daughter suffered severe grief that was accentuated by seeing the television news videos of her father’s vehicle burning on the bridge and after receiving her dad’s charred personal belongings and melted ring. She looked to her dad as a father figure for her minor son and guidance for herself.

A focus group provided insight into likely jury verdict in a rural conservative venue.

Type of action: Wrongful Death, auto-pickup truck rear-end collision

Injuries alleged: Death on impact

Name of case: Confidential

Court: Tidewater

Name of mediator: Hon. Robert S. Brewbaker (Ret.)

Date resolved: May 25, 2018

Special damages: Death, grief of adult daughter. No special monetary damages.

Verdict or settlement: Settlement

Amount: $1,450,000

Attorneys for plaintiff: Stephen Swain, Virginia Beach