18-wheelers are the bullies of the roadways. Due to their shear size, they kind of do what they want despite the actual rules of the road. And this case highlights this aspect of their nature.Our client was traveling on Airline Highway when she approached the intersection for her turn. The roadway at this intersection contains a right-turning lane off the main highway. As she has done many times, she entered the turn lane as the vehicles waiting for the red light were on her left. As she approached the turn, she yielded as directed by the signage, since the green light directed left-turning vehicles it was time for them to turn. As she’s yielding to this traffic, she feels a sudden impact to the front of her vehicle as she sees a big rig making a right turn from the highway travel lane. Her car is demolished. She is jostled around as the 18-wheeler keeps making the turn from the wrong lane. Eventually, the driver of the tractor-trailer realizes he crashed into our client’s car and stops. He admits to the authorities he noticed the turn late and since he was a big rig he had to swing wide so he stayed in the highway travel lane for his turn. He didn’t see our client or any of the other cars in the turn lane when he decided to turn because he was just waiting for all the left-turning traffic to finish and was focused on those vehicles. He was ticketed for an illegal turn and careless operation of a commercial vehicle.Our client – a working college student – was distraught by the crash. All she kept thinking about was how close she was to death. The crash amplified other anxieties and traumas. She eventually should in-patient treatment for these issues – all brought on by an inattentive and careless big-rig driver. She also had physical injuries from the impact and underwent months of physical therapy and pain management.
Our team filed suit against the driver, his company, and the insurance companies. As expected, the defense attorney and the insurance company did not believe any significant emotional distress could result from this crash and fought to pin the blame on the client’s past trauma. The litigation started in state court, was removed to federal court, remanded back to state court, and then after almost a year of litigation, removed again to federal court. We were able to ultimately work out a favorable resolution for the client to bring the matter to a close.
In this case, our Louisiana truck accident lawyers and team fought hard to have our client’s emotional injuries recognized and to hold the at-fault big-rig driver, company, and insurer accounting for the emotional toil they caused our client. Although she had some physical pain, this case was mostly about emotional distress and how hard defendants will fight to not recognize this type of damage. We saw firsthand the bias existing against mental health in this case and fought hard to help our client obtain the financial justice she deserved despite it.
