$153,000 Verdict for Pedestrian Hit in Rotary

Our client was walking to his home in  Bridgeport. He had just gotten off of work at the McDonald’s Restaurant  in Fairfield. As he crossed Kings Highway East, he was struck by a Ford  Ranger truck. Our client was thrown up onto the hood of the truck,  knocked unconscious and carried for a distance on the hood before  falling off on to the pavement. He was admitted to the hospital for two  days. Our client sustained head trauma and had no memory of the  collision. In addition, he sustained various other physical injuries,  including a permanent injury to his cervical spine and ankle.

We  filed suit against the driver of the truck. The defendant driver denied  that he was at fault and claimed that our client was responsible.  Defendant claimed that prior to impact, he never saw our client, so he  didn’t do anything to avoid him. Even after our client was thrown up  onto the hood of the truck, the defendant continued to drive; he claimed  he didn’t know there was a person on the hood of his truck.

The  police had concluded our client was at fault because, among other  things, our client was not walking in a cross walk and was wearing dark  clothing in a dimly lit area.

Police officers testified at trial  that pedestrians walked in the area of the collision at night and could  be seen. Our expert, a professional engineer, testified that prior to  impact, the defendant had the opportunity to see our client and had  enough time and distance to avoid hitting him.

The defense maintained a no-pay position. The jury returned a verdict in favor of our client for $153,000.00.

Read a Connecticut Law Tribune article about this verdict.