Family Gets $29M for Fatal Crash Caused by Overloaded Truck

In Estate of Malkin v. Transport Expressway Inc., an Orange County New York jury awarded over $29 million to a family that was involved in a fatal motor-vehicle accident on the New York State Thruway on January 25, 2002. The plaintiff driver was driving on the northbound side of the New York State Thruway, near an underpass that crossed beneath Pleasant Hill Road, in Mountainville, New York. The plaintiff driver's husband was a front-seat passenger and the couple's 15 year old daughter was a rear-seat passenger. At the time of the accident, a trucker in front of the family attempted to travel beneath the overpass, but the truck's payload struck the underside of the overpass causing a freight container to fall off the truck and shatter on the highway. As the plaintiff driver tried to avoid the container, the family's vehicle was hit by a second truck causing it to go off the highway, killing the husband injuring his wife and daughter. The jury found that the accident was caused by negligent overloading of a tractor-trailer. www.foleygriffin.com

Intentional Act Ruled an 'Accident' For Victim in Car Insurance Claim

In State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company v. Langan, a New York City lawyer was walking on Seventh Avenue near 32nd Street when a car, driven by a man seeking to kill as many pedestrians as possible, jumped the sidewalk, striking him and fracturing his leg. The car continued to barrel down the avenue, hitting 19 people in total.

In a precedent setting case, the Appellate Division, Second Department ruled that the incident was deemed an "accident" for no-fault insurance purposes, even though the driver's actions were intentional. The court held that the issue of whether an automotive "event" is an "accident" should be viewed from the perspective of the victim, not the errant driver. The court went on to state that insurance "coverage is unaffected by whether the tortfeasor acted intentionally in causing the injury, provided only that, from the viewpoint of the insured, the event was 'unexpected, unusual and unforeseen' and not brought about by the insured's own 'misconduct, provocation, or assault.'". He was entitled to recover benefits under his insurance policy's personal-injury protection endorsement, as well as its death, dismemberment and loss of sight provisions, because the sections did not exclude intentional acts. However, the lawyer was not covered by his car-insurance policy's uninsured-motorist or his supplemental uninsured-motorist provision, which explicitly excludes intentional acts. http://www.foleygriffin.com/

Lawsuit Dismissed Against Driver Caught in Car Chase

In Pisciotto v. LaRocque, a driver, caught in the middle of a speed race that ended in a three-car accident, was found not to be negligent in a lawsuit brought by his passenger. The driver was going down Town Path Road in Glen Cove when two vehicles pulled up alongside, flanking him. The court found that the testimony plainly showed a speed race, where both racers simultaneously attempted to pass the driver. One of the racers collided with the driver, then hit the other racer before crashing into a tree. The court held that mere speculation that the driver failed to take accident avoidance measures, such as braking or steering away, was not enough to keep him in the lawsuit. http://www.foleygriffin.com/

Allstate Commits Bad Faith

Court Uphold Bad Faith Judgment Against Allstate
A Missouri appellate panel upheld a $16 million bad faith judgment against Allstate Insurance Company. The Missouri Court of Appeals found that, based on the evidence presented in the case, it was reasonable to infer that the insurer had acted in bad faith. The cases stemmed from a 2000 drunken driving accident in which Allstate refused to settle claims on behalf of the victims.