Case Studies: Personal Injury

A Wrongful Death Righted

David Autry loved his Harley. He had been an avid motorcyclist for his entire adult life and had an excellent safety record. That, however, did not save him when one summer day a van pulled out from a side street and he tried to “lay down his bike” in a failed attempt to avoid crashing into the van. Suffering from a severe head injury, David died in the street before an ambulance arrived. Shortly after the funeral his family hired personal injury attorney Robert Simpson to explore a wrongful death action against the van driver and any other actionable party. Bob Simpson called on Trace Investigations to conduct an accident site inspection and investigation.

Our investigation revealed two significant facts: 1) the year before the city had replaced a traffic light at that intersection with a stop sign for the side street, ignoring neighbors pleadings and past statistics of accidents because of obstructed views from the side street; and 2) the view from the van driver’s side was still obstructed by overhanging bushes and trees along the sidewalk of the main street that David was on. We canvassed the area and interviewed residents who confirmed neighbors had objected to the removal of the street light and had continued to press the city to reconsider. Our investigation had established negligence on the part of the city and Bob Simpson moved forward with litigation on behalf of the Autry estate. The city eventually settled, yielding a favorable result for the estate.

Result: A grieving family was compensated for a horrible loss and a city’s wrong was corrected. A traffic signal was returned to the dangerous intersection.

Haste Makes Waste: A Tort Established

Personal injury attorney Jon Singleton’s client was a mother and her young son, who had been knocked down and injured when a woman exited from a public building in a hurry and quickly left the scene without offering assistance or phoning an ambulance. Jon asked Trace Investigations to track down the woman, using a license plate captured on a security camera, and establish what assets were available to compensate for the medical expenses and loss of income suffered by his client and her son. We traced the vehicle to a man who lived nearby, who refused to cooperate with our investigation. He denied any responsibility and refused to identify who was driving his car that day. Further investigation led to us identifying his mother as the driver, and we found a witness who had seen her leave the scene of the accident. We developed a financial profile on her and her son, and our client filed suit leading to a settlement before trial.

Result: The investigation assisted our client in winning compensation for the injured mother and her son, offsetting her loss of income and covering all medical expenses. Mother and son recovered from their injuries.

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All names have been changed for privacy concerns.