Maloree McDonough (Birmingham, AL) (Auto Liability) obtained a Defense Verdict on February 16, 2022 in the Circuit Court of Tuscaloosa County, Alabama in an auto accident case against an Allstate insured in which liability was disputed. The two Plaintiffs, a mother and a daughter, pulled out onto a 6 lane road from a private drive and were struck by the defendant. Plaintiffs claimed that although they pulled out onto the roadway, they saw the defendant coming in the inside lane at a high rate of speed, so they stopped before crossing into the defendant’s lane of travel. Plaintiffs argued that the defendant was speeding and was negligent for leaving his lane of travel and colliding with their vehicle.
The mother’s medical bills were $18,000 and she claimed exacerbation of pre-existing neck and shoulder conditions, wage losses and the total loss of her vehicle ($10,000).The daughter claimed injuries to her arm and $2,000 in medicals.
Defendant was successful in getting contributory negligence and sudden emergency charges to the jury. The judge also gave the jury a charge on subsequent negligence so they could consider whether, regardless of plaintiff’s negligence, defendant still had the “last clear chance” to avoid the accident. The jury deliberated for approximately an hour before returning a verdict in favor of the defendant on both the mother and daughter’s claims.