Tractor-trailer crash leads to seven-figure settlement; $1.05 million settlement

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Action: Commercial motor vehicle collision

Injuries alleged: Multiple orthopedic injuries requiring two hand surgeries and 26 months of treatment

Case name: Withheld

Court: Marlboro County

Mediator: Kurt Rozelsky

Amount: $1.05 million

High-low agreement:

Date: May 2023

Attorneys: Douglas E. Jennings and Alexandra Heaton of Yarborough Applegate; Douglas Jennings, Jr. and Mason King of Douglas Jennings Law Firm (for the plaintiff)

On Aug. 26, 2020, a tractor-trailer ran a red light at S.C. Highway 9 and Oakwood Street in Bennettsville, causing a T-bone collision with the plaintiff. The truck driver initially provided a story that was inconsistent with an eyewitness’ account. When a plain-clothes law enforcement officer approached the scene, the truck driver said he “tried to beat the light.”

The tractor-trailer was equipped with a dashcam; however, the trucking company misplaced the SD card containing the video from the date of the collision and was unable to produce it despite immediate requests from plaintiff’s counsel to preserve the video. Cellphone records of the truck driver obtained via subpoena also revealed that he was on his phone at the time of the collision.

The case was settled in May 2023, several months after mediation, for $1.05 million.