Facts

Mark Pfeifer, 50, was headed northbound on Highway 99 when defendant May Irrigation's truck pulled out into the roadway to make a left turn through the median at-grade crossing and head southbound on Highway 99. That vehicle was blocked by a pickup truck driven by James Grisham, who was attempting to cross through the same median at-grade crossing. As a result, the May Irrigation truck was stopped and blocking both lanes of travel when the Pfeifer vehicle struck it.

Mark Pfeifer was killed on impact when he was decapitated at the time of the collision, which also severed his arm and caused multiple other injuries.

The plaintiffs, the decedent's two minor children, Nicholas and Morgan with his present wife, plaintiff Maureen Pfeifer and two adult children, Jamison and Brittany from a former marriage brought this wrongful death action against the defendants.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
The plaintiffs contended that this median at-grade crossing created a dangerous condition of public roadway and that there was an extensive accident history at this location that the state of California was aware of, and had failed to properly remedy.

The plaintiffs also contended that Grisham and the driver for May Irrigation should have appreciated the circumstance and not pulled out or made a left turn so as to not block the subject roadway.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
The defendants contended that the decedent was traveling too fast for the conditions; that he may have been on his cell phone; and that the incident was simply an accident and no one's fault.

The defendant truck company and the driver contended that they were using the road legally and it was not their fault that the path got blocked. These defendants both denied having done anything wrong.

The state of California contended that the roadway was not a dangerous condition and, if the roadway was used prudently, the incident would not have happened.

Settlement Discussions

Trucking defendants tendered their $1 million (policy limits) and Grisham tendered $300,000 (policy limits) subsequent to plaintiff's demand. Both limits were paid for a total of $1.3 million.

Damages

The plaintiffs claimed $1.5 million in economic damages.

Result

The case was settled for a combined settlement of $5,100,000 ($3.8 million was paid by the state of California on the second day of trial).