Serving clients throughout Indiana
and the United States

Semi Truck Collides with Car

Tom Doehrman earned a settlement with a present value of over $1,400,000 for a person injured in a motor vehicle collision with a semi tractor-trailer. The collision in this case occurred when the plaintiff was heading home, traveling northbound on State Road 37 in Indiana, approaching its intersection with 191st Street. It was the plaintiff's intention to turn left at this intersection after waiting for two lanes of southbound traffic on State Road 37 to clear the intersection. The weather at the time was overcast and the surface of the roadway was wet. After the plaintiff stopped in the median, she waited for automobiles to pass, then began her turn. Unfortunately, the plaintiff did not see an approaching semi tractor-trailer heading southbound on State Road 37 and was struck broadside. The plaintiff received a severe traumatic brain injury in this collision. The semi was black and the trailer was almost black with a black tarp covering it. The semi tractor-trailer driver had not turned on his headlights.

Because this case involved a commercial motor vehicle (the semi tractor-trailer), State and Federal regulations were very important. Specifically, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) defined the obligations and duties of the semi driver and the carriers for whom he was 'employed' on the day of the collision. The settlement proceeds were used to establish a special needs trust for the plaintiff to provide for her on-going rehabilitation needs, and at the same time, maintain her Medicaid assistance.*

**Disclaimer: Past results cannot guarantee future performance. Any result in a single case does not constitute a promise, prediction, or guarantee regarding the outcome of any other case. Each case involves many different factors and thus results will always be different from case-to-case.**