On August 22, 2017, Client was walking back to his vehicle in a Walmart parking lot when he was struck by a 2010 Cadillac SRX operated by Defendant who was backing out of a parking space. The force of the impact knocked Client to the ground, causing his head to strike the pavement violently and to lose consciousness. Client was 75 years of age and retired.

Client spent a year in and out of hospitals and rehabilitation facilities for treatment for a traumatic brain injury, incurring in excess of $450,000.00 in medical charges. Client and his wife retained Jay Benson and The Benson Law Firm to represent them in a bodily injury claim. Plaintiffs filed suit in the Circuit Court of Adair County, Missouri against the lady who was operating the Cadillac SUV.

A Life Care Plan developed by Plaintiff’s expert Tracy Wingate, Life Care & Rehabilitation Consultants, Inc., established future costs for our Client’s care at nearly $2.5 million.

Defendant’s insurer raised the issue of comparative fault, alleging that Client should have been paying attention while walking back to his vehicle instead of looking down at the Walmart receipt in his hand. Plaintiff’s crash reconstruction expert, Nathan Rose, Director and Principal Accident Reconstructionist with Kineticorp, Inc. in Denver, Colorado, used parking lot surveillance footage from two cameras to create a 3D video (cockpit view and aerial view) which demonstrated the excessive speed at which Defendant backed out of the parking space, and which demonstrated that Defendant failed to use any of the Cadillac’s safety features, including any of the rear-view mirrors or a back-up camera and alarm system, which would have alerted Defendant to Client’s presence behind the vehicle.

Defendant had insurance coverage through an automobile policy with State Farm, with bodily injury limits of $250,000.00, and an umbrella policy with the same insurer with bodily injury limits in the sum of $1,000,000.00.

Type of Action:     Bodily Injury Claim/Traumatic Brain Injury

Court:     Circuit Court of Adair County, Missouri

Settlement:     $1,250,000.00 (Policy Limits)

Attorney for Plaintiffs:     Jay Benson (Kirksville, Missouri)

Attorney for Defendant:     William Lewis and Lori E. Battern (Smithville, Missouri)

Expert Witnesses:

  • Tracy Wingate, OTR/L, FIALCP, CLCP, CCM (Life Care Planner – Olathe, KS)
  • Nathan Rose (Accident Reconstructionist – Denver, CO)