$6,000,000 Settlement – Death of Pedestrian, DWD: driving while distracted

It’s not unusual for someone to pull of the side of a highway to fix something on their car.  In the case of one couple, they had some items they were carrying that were loose and needed to be secured better.  After pulling off the roadway and onto the shoulder of a major highway, our client’s husband was securing a tarp when a commercial truck left the traffic lanes and plowed into him and the car, striking him full force and instantly killing him in front of his wife of many decades.  The driver of the truck was not paying attention and was distracted by his phone.  This is just another example of DWD: driving while distracted.

In this instance, the distracted driving cost this man his life and our client lost her life partner and husband, the father to her children. They had recently become grandparents and were in the process of transporting household items to their children’s new home for them.

Leighton Panoff Law recovered $6 million for the estate of this man who was killed by the distracted driver.  The family will have financial security despite the terrible loss through this confidential settlement. The tragedy was totally preventable, and the distraction was the only reason why the truck veered from its lane of travel and onto the shoulder.  After a thorough investigation by Leighton Panoff Law’s traffic crash team, and expert site and vehicle inspections, the case was settled prior to trial. By acting immediately the Leighton Panoff Law team was able to secure critical evidence of the distractions, including cell phone, laptop, security camera footage and witness statements.  The firm’s accident reconstruction engineers were able to do a full site inspection while there was still skid marks and other evidence available.

Driving while distracted remains the single most common form of fatal accidents we see on the roads in Florida.  Despite law sand social encouragement to put the phone down, many drivers continue to text and drive and use their phones to the distraction of their driving.  Hopefully the tragedy of this family losing their beloved father, husband and grandfather will help reduce the likelihood of others having to live this loss too.

 

 

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