Case at a glance
- Recovery: Confidential Settlement
- Injury: Neck injury requiring surgery
- Practice: Personal Injury
- Attorney: Vuk Vujasinovic
A rear-end crash in slowing freeway traffic
Amanda was driving on Houston’s Southwest Freeway near the Greenbriar exit. Traffic ahead was slowing, and she slowed with it. Behind her, an employee was driving a vehicle as part of a test drive for his employer.
The front of that vehicle struck the rear of Amanda’s car. The collision left her with injuries that required neck surgery. What happened on the exit ramp became the starting point for a case about both the driver’s conduct and the company’s responsibility.
Looking beyond the damage to the cars
Vuk retained an accident-reconstruction expert to investigate. The work included inspections of both vehicles, photographs, three-dimensional scans and analysis of electronic crash data. The expert also examined the freeway layout and the view available to the driver approaching the exit.
The evidence showed that Amanda had been braking before the impact. Her vehicle’s brake lights were checked and found to be working. The reconstruction also found a clear line of sight along the roadway.
Those details mattered because the defense pointed to traffic stopping suddenly on the ramp. The investigation addressed that explanation directly: vehicles ahead had been able to identify the slowing traffic and reduce their speed without a collision.
The reconstruction expert concluded that the following driver had failed to maintain a safe following distance, control his speed for the conditions and keep a proper lookout.
Connecting the driver’s work to the company
The VB Attorneys team also investigated why the driver was on the road and who controlled the vehicle. The company acknowledged in discovery that it owned the vehicle he was driving.
The driver’s testimony and the employment evidence addressed the test drive as part of his regular work. The team examined the company’s hiring, training and supervision evidence rather than treating the collision solely as a claim against an individual motorist.
When the company sought dismissal of certain claims before trial, Amanda’s lawyers opposed that request with deposition testimony, the reconstruction report and the company’s discovery responses. The work brought the driving evidence and the employment evidence together in support of her claims.
A confidential settlement after a serious injury
Amanda’s case involved more than repairing a damaged car. Her neck injury required surgery, making the consequences of the collision central to the claim.
Vuk and the VB Attorneys team obtained a confidential settlement resolving the case. The result followed an investigation that connected the physical evidence from the crash with the employee’s work and the company’s role.
Questions about the case
Related legal help
Learn about serious injury claims, or read about commercial vehicle injury claims.
To speak with Vuk Vujasinovic about a serious injury, call 877-724-7800 for a free consultation.
Every case is different. Prior results depend on the facts of the individual case and do not guarantee a similar outcome.