Wife airlifted after uninsured driver slices through median

Action: Automobile accident

Injuries alleged: Broken fibula, spinal cord injury, head and neck injuries

Case name: Withheld

Court/case no.: Withheld

Jury and/or judge: N/A

Amount: $2.65 million

Date: March 8, 2023

Most helpful expert: RM Balgowan Forensic & Engineering Service, Hamilton, N.J.

Attorneys: Christopher Hart of Hart Law, Columbia and Gary Poliakoff of Poliakoff & Associates, Spartanburg (for the plaintiff)

A husband and wife were driving home from a gospel concert when an uninsured driver slammed into the rear of a vehicle traveling in the same direction.

From that impact, he then sliced through the median cable barrier at 100 mph, crashing head-on into the couple’s car, causing it to flip several times and leaving the passenger dangling from the roof held only by the seatbelt.

Witnesses saw the uninsured driver jump out of his vehicle and take off on foot. He was identified by his personal belongings in his vehicle and later arrested and charged with hit and run great bodily injury.

The accident was only a few miles from the emergency room, but the wife’s injuries were so severe that she had to be airlifted to the emergency room.

The couple filed suit against the median barrier company that installed the cable barrier, the highway department and the company that performed maintenance on the median cable barrier for defective design, installation, and repair and maintenance.

The defendants were on prior notice of the defective design, installation, and repair and maintenance from several previous vehicles crashing through the median cable barrier. The plaintiffs recovered from all defendants and their uninsured policy. Both the husband and wife have recovered and are doing well.