$1 Million from Truck that Caused Bridge Backup

When Jane Doe and her fiancee stopped behind a line of cars on the Dames Point Bridge, a drunk driver plowed into the rear of their car killing her fiancee and sending Jane to Shands Hospital for two weeks.

The drunk driver's insurance company promptly paid its limits, as did Jane's own insurance company. But Jane's losses far exceeded those insurance limits.

Jane had multiple fractures requiring extensive surgery and rehabilitation. Moreover, even though Jane was not a legal survivor of her fiancee under Florida's wrongful death statute, Pajcic & Pajcic relied on the recent Florida Supreme Court case of Willis v. Gami Golden Glades, 967 So. 2d 846 (Fla. 2007) to argue for negligent infliction of emotional distress.

Pajcic & Pajcic recovered some of these excess damages from the other person responsible for this tragedy - the business truck that caused the backup on the bridge.

Although the company's able defense counsel tried to shift most of the blame to the drunk driver, depositions and discovery revealed egregious conduct on the part of the truck driver too.

Because he was running late for work the driver put only three gallons of gas into the empty tank that morning. Then, despite considerable driving during the day, he never stopped to refuel. To cap it off, the driver did not even pull into the break down lane, but stopped in the middle of the bridge in the center of three southbound lanes during afternoon rush hour.

After a second mediation, the case settled for $1 million. With the loving assistance of her parents, Jane is going ahead with her education and doing her best to put the pieces of her life back together.