Pedestrian Wrongful Death
Wrongful Death
Rob Piering of Piering Law Firm secured a $1,250,000 wrongful death settlement for the five siblings of a 67-year-old pedestrian hit by a vehicle making a right hand turn on a rainy night in Sacramento. The decedent was never married, had no children and was not working at the time of the incident. Oftentimes, the decedent was homeless. He did, however, stay in contact with his siblings and would generally make family gatherings and holiday celebrations. There were no witnesses to the event. During a winter downpour, the defendant was stopped at a red light a few cars back from the intersection where she intended to make a right-hand turn. From there, she had a view of the intersection, pedestrian crosswalk and sidewalk. She said the decedent was not standing at the corner and did not see him at any time prior to hitting him as he was crossing the street. The defendant said as she was making her right hand turn she had a green light and the pedestrian signal facing the decedent read "don't walk". The defendant claimed the decedent "darted out" in front of her, against a "don't walk" signal and was wearing dark clothing. The decedent was in and out of consciousness at the scene and unable to give any information about what happened. While en route to the hospital, he lost consciousness. He passed away a few weeks later as a result of head trauma. The traffic collision report was inconclusive. However, traffic signal phase diagrams were secured from the City and showed that if the defendant had a green light, it was likely that the decedent had a "walk" signal at the time the defendant entered the intersection. The defendant's primary limits of $250,000 were tendered in response to a conditional limits demand that required disclosure of all other coverages. The defendant had an excess policy of $1,000,000.00 which was tendered along with the primary limits.