Our client was seriously injured in a crash on F Highway in Kansas City, Missouri. As the vehicle traveled over a hill, another driver ran a stop sign and blocked both lanes of traffic. There was not enough time to avoid a collision. After impact, the vehicle slid down the road, struck a utility pole, rolled over, and crashed into a tree.
The crash was made even more serious by the driver's behavior leading up to the collision. The driver, who was only 16 years old, was intoxicated at the time of the wreck and was reportedly traveling at an extremely high rate of speed. Following the drunk driving crash investigation, the driver was charged with careless driving.
As a result of the wreck, our client suffered a traumatic brain injury and missed more than a week of work. Despite the severity of the crash, the insurance company initially offered just $31,000. The adjuster argued that because our client was an adult riding with a younger driver, he should share some responsibility for what happened.
We pushed back against that argument and made it clear that our client was a passenger, not the person behind the wheel. He had no control over how the vehicle was being driven.
After continued negotiations, we were able to secure a settlement of $115,000, more than three times the original offer. This result helped our client move forward without having to pursue a lawsuit against someone he cared about.
