$7,400,000 verdict – leg amputation

When a trucker is traveling too fast for conditions, there is very poor visibility, and he crosses over the median there will be a bad outcome.  That’s exactly what happened to our client when an 18 wheeler was traveling down the road in fog in central Florida early one morning.  The trucker lost track of where he was on the road, failed to slow, and crossed the median, striking our client’s vehicle.

Leighton Panoff Law’s John Elliott Leighton won a $7,400,000 verdict on behalf of a man whose leg was amputated following a crash with a semi-tractor trailer.  The truck crossed into oncoming traffic after smoke and fog had created a “zero visibility condition” on a major roadway.  When he lost visibility, the trucker attempted to slow and pull off the roadway, but had no idea where he was and instead his rig ended up in the median, which caused a loss of control in the grass.  A number of other vehicles crashed due to the loss of visibility, which was due to a fire burning a mile away which had produced enormous smoke and combined with early morning fog.   Erb v. Peninsula Logistics, Inc. and Loran Smith, Case No. 12 CA 1509, Osceola County Circuit Court.

The verdict enabled our client to obtain the best prosthetics available, receive top flight medical and rehabilitative care, and begin to put his life back together.

 

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