Jury Awards Father and Son $35 Million Verdict in Tractor-Trailer Accident Case in South Carolina
ORANGEBURG COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA – As reported online by thetandd.com, a jury awarded a father and son $35 million in a lawsuit involving a catastrophic tractor-trailer accident.*
A father and son sustained injuries in an accident involving a commercial tractor-trailer. The accident happened on Interstate 26 in Orangeburg County when the tractor-trailer rear-ended the father and son’s vehicle.
Court documents reveal that the father was driving behind a vehicle that became disabled, and stopped to avoid a collision. The tractor-trailer then rear-ended the father’s vehicle, which subsequently pushed the vehicle into a tree. The lawsuit filed by the father and son alleged that they sustained severe and permanent head, neck, back, and other injuries, which required hospitalization and substantial medical expenses.
The Orangeburg jury determined in a recent trial that the driver of the commercial tractor-trailer was ninety percent (90%) at fault for causing the accident and the father was ten percent (10%) at fault. During the trial, the injured father and son asserted that the tractor-trailer was traveling too fast for the conditions at the time of the accident.
The jury awarded both the father and son actual damages (pain and suffering, medical expenses, and other measurable damages) as well as a substantial amount in punitive damages for conduct the jury believed to be reckless and indifferent to the safety of others. Court documents reveal that the driver of the tractor-trailer had undergone a knee surgery not too long before the accident. However, the driver was allegedly cleared by a doctor to drive. Whether this knee surgery played a role in the cause of the accident is unclear.
Both the commercial trucking company and the tractor-trailer driver plan to appeal the jury’s verdict, including a request for a new trial.
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Source:https://thetandd.com/news/local/father-son-win-m-lawsuit-two-injured-in-crash-with/article_6563b7b4-74da-57cc-8567-69c1929543c6.html