{"id":5369,"date":"2010-06-10T15:32:29","date_gmt":"2010-06-10T22:32:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aitkenlaw.com\/news\/?p=567"},"modified":"2010-06-10T15:32:29","modified_gmt":"2010-06-10T22:32:29","slug":"dune-buggy-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aitkenlaw.com\/newsite\/2010\/06\/10\/dune-buggy-crash\/","title":{"rendered":"$5,600,000: Negligent Drunk Driver Crashes Dune Buggy, Injuring Four Passengers"},"content":{"rendered":"

CASE DESCRIPTION<\/strong>:\u00a0 Plaintiffs Derek H., Robert E.,Chrisa E., and Marinda H. brought a personal injury lawsuit against Defendant Brian M. for his negligent operation and crash of a dune buggy while the plaintiffs were passengers on May 18, 2007.\u00a0 Chrisa E. also brought a claim against Defendant Brian M. for Loss of Consortium for her husband, Robert E.\u2019s injuries.\u00a0 As a result, all four plaintiffs suffered various degrees of personal injuries that have impacted their life and caused immense pain.<\/p>\n

On May 18, 2007 in the early afternoon, Defendant Brian M. was driving Plaintiffs Derek H., Robert E., Chrisa E., and Marinda H. in his brother\u2019s dune buggy.\u00a0 The group was on their way to Blue Water Casino located on Riverside Drive near Highway 95 in Arizona.\u00a0 Brian M. was driving in excess speeds of 45 miles per hour before veering onto an unpaved gravel road to take what he knew as a shortcut to their destination.\u00a0 Due to this decision, Mr. M. lost control of the vehicle and struck a manhole catapulting the dune buggy into a nearby light pole and chain link fence.<\/p>\n

After 911 was called, police officers, EMTs, and helicopters immediately arrived at the scene.\u00a0 Derek H., was rushed to La Paz Hospital, then taken by helicopter to Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas.\u00a0 Chrisa E. was taken to La Paz Hospital as well, and then flown by helicopter to Banner Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. Initially Marinda H. was also treated at La Paz Hospital in Parker, Arizona.\u00a0 Robert E. was airlifted to University Medical Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.\u00a0 Back at the accident site, police questioned Brian about consuming alcohol prior to the incident, which he denied. \u00a0The officer proceeded to breathalyze the defendant after he failed a Field Sobriety test. \u00a0Results indicated the defendant had a blood alcohol level to be twice the legal limit.<\/p>\n

Plaintiffs contended that Defendant Brian M. was negligent in his driving by going from a paved road to unpaved section of the road and that it was the driver\u2019s responsibility to ensure that his passengers were properly wearing seat belts.\u00a0 Defendant Brian M. admitted that he had not checked on his passengers after leaving the Blue Water Casino prior to the incident.\u00a0 Plaintiffs disputed Defendant contentions of comparative liability, as noted below.<\/p>\n

Defendants contended that the Plaintiffs shared a major portion of comparative liability as they were also intoxicated at the time of the accident.\u00a0 The evidence suggest that the passengers, one of whom was the defendant driver\u2019s fianc\u00e9e and the others who were long time friends of the driver, consumed several mixed drinks and beer during the 5 hours preceding the incident. Defendants also claimed, which was undisputed, that all the three passengers that were in the back of the SPCON Sand Rail were unbelted.\u00a0 Defendant claimed that the injuries would have been minimal, similar to the two front belted passengers, if the proper provided seat restraints were used.<\/p>\n

RESULT: <\/strong>$5,600,000 (Policy Limits)<\/p>\n

TYPE OF CASE<\/strong>: Personal Injury; Loss of Consortium<\/p>\n

INJURIES: <\/strong><\/p>\n

Derek H<\/span><\/strong>.
\nHe underwent several surgeries after fracturing his C7 and T-1 vertebrae and scapula.<\/p>\n

The doctor diagnosed Derek as having an unstable fracture of the cervical spine, status post anterior and posterior cervical fusion and highly comminuted unstable fracture of the left scapula, status post open reduction and internal fixation surgery.\u00a0 Derek is still recovering and will need medical treatment in the future.<\/p>\n

Robert E<\/span><\/strong>.
\nRobert suffered both physical and permanent psychological problems from the accident. Upon release, the doctor informed Robert of having: traumatic brain injury, multiple rib fractures, pulmonary contusions, T3-4 vertebral body fracture, degeneration of the lower lumbar spine, pelvic fracture.\u00a0 He continues to recover from his injuries.<\/p>\n

Chrisa E.<\/span><\/strong>
\nChrisa\u2019s injuries included fractured ribs, fractured pubic rami, and fractured chest bones.\u00a0 Moreover, Chrisa\u2019s lungs suffered from a right pneumothorax, making her ability to breath nearly impossible. Marinda H. was diagnosed with radial\/ulna midshaft fracture and underwent surgery on her arm.\u00a0 She is awaiting another surgery to get screws removed that were implanted to repair the fracture in her arm.<\/p>\n

DATE & LOCATION OF INCIDENT: <\/strong>Parker, Arizona on May 18, 2007 at about 5:25 p.m.<\/p>\n

PLAINTIFF\u2019S AGE: <\/strong>Derek H. 26
\nRobert E. 29
\nChrisa E. 29
\nMarinda H. 34<\/p>\n

OCCUPATION:<\/strong> Derek H.- Student
\nRobert E. – Website developer\/programmer
\nChrisa E. – Phlebotomist
\nMarinda H. – Optometrist<\/p>\n

PLAINTIFF\u2019S ATTORNEYS: <\/strong>
\nChristopher R. Aitken
\nAITKEN*AITKEN*COHN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CASE DESCRIPTION:\u00a0 Plaintiffs Derek H., Robert E.,Chrisa E., and Marinda H. brought a personal injury lawsuit against Defendant Brian M. for his negligent operation and crash of a dune buggy while the plaintiffs were passengers on May 18, 2007.\u00a0 Chrisa E. also brought a claim against Defendant Brian M. for Loss of Consortium for her… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[826],"class_list":["post-5369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-verdicts-settlements","tag-vehicular-accidents"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aitkenlaw.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aitkenlaw.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aitkenlaw.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aitkenlaw.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aitkenlaw.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.aitkenlaw.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5369\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aitkenlaw.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aitkenlaw.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aitkenlaw.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}