Tractor Trailer v. Parked Vans $3 Million Dollar Settlement

While packing up his tools from a job on the side of Route 3 in East Rutherford, New Jersey, a 65-year-old electrician’s work van was struck by a tractor-trailer, pushing the van into him and sending him over the nearby guardrail. The electrician hired Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C. partner Garry R. Salomon who in turn proved the tractor-trailer driver’s negligence and won the client $3 million dollars from the trucking company.

Before the truck accident, the electrician was fixing the wiring of a billboard near MetLife Stadium. Two white work vans were parked on the shoulder of the highway right before the Hackensack River Bridge as the electrician and his co-workers finished their job. The Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C. client claimed that his last memory before the accident was that he was about to open the rear door of the van to get a chain saw. It is his understanding that he was then struck by one of the parked vehicles that were hit by the 18-wheeler.

The defendant tractor-trailer driver claimed that when he saw the vans were stopped, he tried to move to the left. However, due to traffic and cars to his left, he could not move over quickly enough. The defendant driver also claimed that he attempted to slow down or stop his truck, but he eventually skidded into the back of one of the vans. All three workers were pushed over the guardrails.

Due to the crash, the electrician suffered injuries to his left leg, head, right leg, right foot, and chest. In his left leg, he suffered from an open tibia and fibula fracture and grade 2 compartment syndrome. Because of these injuries, the client underwent three operations during his initial hospitalization, a fourth surgery to remove the hardware implanted during the initial surgeries, and a fifth corrective surgery. X-Rays showed that the electrician suffered from a proximal fibula fracture in his right foot, which caused underlying pain and discomfort. The injured electrician also fractured at least one rib.

The fall over the guardrail caused the client to suffer a severe head injury, loss of consciousness, post-concussive syndrome, dysfunction of the left first division of the cranial nerve, and diminished vision. Post-accident, the client continued to suffer numbness and pain in his forehead and headaches.

The client’s economic damages were limited due to his work-life expectancy as he had passed retirement age. The electrician was an active husband, father, and grandfather. He enjoyed riding horses as a hobby. After years of hard work and physical therapy, he achieved his goal—with help from the settlement—to retire with his wife and buy a ranch and a horse in Wyoming.

Because the client was working at the time of the accident, Steven Cohen, the Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C. Chairman of the Worker’s Compensation Section, filed an accompanying worker’s compensation claim and successfully handled that case separately.

Do you or someone you know have similar injuries or circumstances to this one? Our dedicated legal team of over 25 attorneys is here to help. Call now for a free case evaluation or reach out online and we’ll call you back.

Medical Term Glossary:

Fibula: the outer and usually smaller of the two bones between the knee and ankle

Fracture: the cracking or breaking of a bone

Tibia: the inner and typically larger of the two bones between the knee and ankle

X-ray: a photograph or digital image of the internal composition of a part of the body