Motor Vehicle Negligence Woman struck by vehicle loses senses of taste, smell

$1.225 million settlement

Injuries alleged: Multiple rib fractures, collapsed lung, hemothorax, skull fracture and intracranial hemorrhage, resulting in loss of taste and smell

Court: Fairfax County Circuit Court

Date resolved: April 14, 2026

Special damages: $117,980

Amount: $1.225 million

Attorneys for plaintiff: Brian Glass, Fairfax, Ben Glass Law

Case description: A 70-year-old woman was standing next to her parked car in a Burke parking lot when the defendant’s vehicle struck her car at speed, launching it onto a raised median and striking her. Plaintiff was knocked unconscious and found by emergency responders lying in the street with lacerations to her jaw. At Inova Fairfax Hospital’s
Trauma Center, a full-body CT scan revealed multiple rib fractures, a collapsed lung, hemothorax, a skull fracture, intracranial hemorrhage and multiple hemorrhagic contusions of the brain — including bleeding in the temporal lobe, frontal lobes bilaterally and cerebellum. She was admitted to the ICU and remained hospitalized for nine days.

For two months post-discharge, the plaintiff required professional nursing care, physical therapy and assistance with basic daily tasks. She suffered from daily headaches, dizziness, and vertigo requiring vestibular rehabilitation. Subsequent ENT evaluation revealed asymmetric sensorineural hearing loss and permanent post-traumatic anosmia and ageusia: the total loss of smell and taste. With a life expectancy of nearly 16 years, the permanence of these sensory losses drove the damages case. Total documented medical expenses were $117,980.71.

The case settled for $1.225 million shortly after the filing of suit in Fairfax County Circuit Court.