Young mother injured in tow truck collision reaches $1.2M settlement

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A 36-year-old Bishopville woman who was left permanently disabled after her car was struck by a careening tow truck has reached a $1.195 million settlement with insurance companies for the tow truck driver and other liable parties, her attorneys report.

Tamara Bradley, a health care worker and mother of two, was driving on U.S. Highway 76/378 in Sumter County during a rainy late-morning in September 2010. According to police reports of the collision, a car heading in the opposite direction had stopped while trying to make an improper left turn. The tow truck driver following that car, who was driving at too high a speed, lost control of his vehicle and crossed into oncoming traffic, where he collided with Bradley’s car.

The attorneys for Bradley, John Clark and Sharon Baker Clark of Clark Law Firm in Sumter, said that eyewitnesses to the accident reported that the tow truck driver was traveling the wet road at such a speed that the wheels on one side elevated off the road as the truck crossed the road’s median.

Bradley suffered an open ankle fracture and neck and back injuries from the crash. The driver that had suddenly stopped had been test driving a vehicle from a local Chevrolet dealership. Bradley sued the tow truck driver and his company, the driver of the third car, the Chevrolet dealership, and the salesperson on the test drive, alleging negligence against all.

The insurer for the tow truck driver settled with Bradley in November and will contribute $1 million to the settlement, which was the full policy limit. The insurer for the driver of the third car settled with Bradley in June and will contribute $125,000, also the full policy limit. The remaining $70,000 will come from Bradley’s underinsured motorist policy.

The Clarks said that the injuries have left Bradley, who had previous worked two jobs, unable to work and precluded her from activities she had previously enjoyed with her children.

“This has severely limited her ability to participate in their lives, even something as simple as walking around with them for an extended period of time,” Sharon Clark said. “It’s changed her everyday life.”

The attorneys also argued that the tow truck driver was inexperienced and had not been properly trained by his company. That, along with the eyewitness testimony and accident reconstruction testimony suggesting that the driver had been traveling 10 mph to 20 mph above the speed limit, aided efforts to settle the case, they said.

“High speed, wet road conditions, and an inexperience driver are a bad combination, and it resulted in a serious accident and injury in this case,” John Clark said

Attorneys for the defendants could not be immediately reached for comment on the case.

Follow David Donovan on Twitter @SCLWDonovan

SETTLEMENT REPORT – AUTO ACCIDENT

Amount: $1.195 million

Injuries alleged: Permanent disability, ankle fracture, neck and back injuries

Case name: Tamara M. Bradley v. Thomas J. Alan, John E. Bailey, Jr. d/b/a Bailey’s Automobile Service, Susan Jackson, Mark Greene and Jones Chevrolet Co., Inc.

Court: Sumter County Circuit Court

Case number: 13-CP-43-1528

Most helpful experts: Woodrow Poplin, accident reconstruction, Wadmalaw Island

Insurance Carriers: Federated Mutual Insurance Co., Zurich American Insurance Co., Geico Indemnity Insurance Co.

Attorneys for the plaintiff: John Clark and Sharon Baker Clark of Clark Law Firm in Sumter