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$15.8 million awarded to car accident victim

A Finleyville woman who was injured along Route 51 in Pleasant Hills on her way to her daughter's wedding rehearsal five years ago has been compensated to the tune $15.8 million for pain, suffering, damages, and hospital bills.

On Monday afternoon, an Allegheny County Common Pleas Court jury found Connecticut-based Lane Construction Corporation and the driver that initiated the accident negligent in a civil trial. The case was brought on by the woman's family. The accident happened on 11 June 2009 when the woman was fifty-two. After the accident, the woman spent five weeks in a coma and is suffering from lifelong brain injuries. The family based their lawsuit on the fact that the construction area was dangerous and those dangers were not given attention even after other accidents had occurred in the same area at earlier times.

The twenty-five year old man who caused the accident, who pleaded guilty to speeding and reckless driving in 2010, settled with the victim's family before the trial began. PennDoT did the same. Lane Construction Corp., who was contracted out by PennDoT, was found responsible for the entire $15.8 million because the case began before the Fair Share Act of 2011. The Fair Share Act now requires defendants to pay only their fair share of court judgments.

Technically, the jury came to the conclusion that the twenty-five year old man was 42% at fault, PennDoT was 40% at fault, and Lane Construction Corp. was 18% at fault. The family of the victim and their lawyer expect Lane Construction Corp. to eventually file an appeal. When asked, Common Court Pleas Judge Michael Della Vecchia said, "I…guess this battle isn't over yet." To arrive at a total, damages figured for the case totaled nearly $16.5 million, with another $4.8 million in estimated expenses for the victim's future medical care.

An attorney who represented PennDoT said that he believed adequate signs and speed limits were enough to deter dangerous driving, but an expert witness for the plaintiffs argued that banning left-hand turns in the construction zone would have prevented the accident in question and others before it.

In the years since the victim was injured, she has learned to walk again, but still no use of her left hand and has great difficulty remembering certain things, like when she had her last meal. One account of memory loss was given by her husband who told the court that she questioned who he was one morning after he got out of the shower to get ready for work.

If you have questions about injuries you or a loved one has sustained in a car accident, call the car accidents lawyers at Dallas W. Hartman, P.C. at 800-777-4081 for a free consultation.

Source: Post-Gazette.com, "Jury awards $15.8 million to work-zone crash victim from Finleyville" 16 September 2014

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