Early one morning, a tow truck operator was heading down Indiana interstate I-69 just south of Hamilton Town Center on a call for a broken-down box truck sitting on the right-side berm.
He pulled in front of the box truck with his emergency lights flashing in the still-dark early morning.
The tow truck operator addressed two young men from the box truck and instructed them to stand back off the road while he hooked up his tow truck to the box truck.
Soon his life would change forever. A semi-truck driver and his co-pilot were also southbound at 70-plus miles per hour.
Asleep at the Wheel
The problem was that the driver had fallen asleep at the wheel, slowly drifted to his right, and plowed into the back of the box truck.
Our client, the tow truck operator, was at the back of his truck when the box truck erupted into pieces and was driven into his legs, traumatically amputating one leg below the knee and mangling his other leg.
His life hanging in the balance, by chance, a nurse who witnessed the accident stopped and applied a tourniquet to his leg, saving his life.
Injury Compensation After an Indiana Interstate Accident
Indiana’s Motor Carrier laws do not require sufficient liability insurance, but this trucking company had a 2-million-dollar policy.
That is only 2 million dollars to compensate a man who ended up having
- one leg surgically amputated above the knee and amazingly had his other mangled leg saved in surgery
- to pay for an $80,000 totaled tow truck,
- to pay for a $50,000 totaled box truck,
- and to compensate the two passengers that received injuries from flying debris when the box truck essentially exploded, minus any fire.
In this case, there was only insurance money to compensate the victims of this horrific accident. The trucking company promptly filed for bankruptcy and went out of business.
Mediation and Settlement
This difficult case went to mediation about a year after the Indiana interstate accident, with all victims in attendance. That would be our client, the tow truck operator, the other two individuals that had been with the box truck, the tow truck company owner, and a representative of the company owning the box truck.
Through the process of a complex and lengthy mediation, we were able to settle the case for the tow truck operator for $1,830,000.
The remaining insurance funds were divided up among the other parties.
As you can imagine, our client had run up considerable medical expenses with his surgeries, rehab, and therapy. The insurance that paid for that extensive treatment had a right to get paid back out of our client’s settlement proceeds.
Here is where Garrison Law Firm can significantly help our clients to pocket more money.
We negotiated the lien amounts down substantially such that our clients, after attorney fees, litigation costs, and payment of liens, still received a net amount of well over one million dollars.
Get the Compensation You Deserve
If you were seriously injured in a vehicle accident of any kind, you need to call Garrison Law Firm, LLC, to make sure you maximize the recovery that you are entitled to for your injuries, mental anguish, and pain and suffering.
