Confidential
Settlement – $130,000Facts
On Jan. 29, 1995, at approximately 11:15 p.m., plaintiff, a 52-year-old systems analyst from Atascadero, Calif. was a passenger in a bus owned by defendant bus line of Orlando, Florida. The driver of defendant's bus was operating the bus eastbound on Eller Drive in Hollywood, Fla. in the number two lane. The bus was returning from the Super Bowl at which plaintiff was a spectator. The plaintiff claimed the driver of defendant's bus missed the turnoff to the airport, attempted to make a U-turn and failed to observe a passenger bus in the number one lane immediately to his left. The two buses collided. The plaintiff was seated at a window seat on the left side of defendant's bus at the time of the collision. The other bus impacted defendant's bus directly at the location where plaintiff was seated. The force of the impact caused plaintiff's head to strike the inside of the passenger window next to his seat. Immediately after the collision, plaintiff complained of neck, shoulder and knee pain and was examined by paramedics at the scene of the collision. The plaintiff chose to take another bus to the airport in order to make his flight home to California. Without filing a lawsuit, the plaintiff sought to recover for damages for his injuries.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiff made an initial demand for $265,000. The defendant made an initial offer of $7,000.
Specials in Evidence
$29,419 $10,000
Injuries
The plaintiff alleged that he suffered soft-tissue injuries to his neck and suffered a herniated disc at C3-4, which resulted in the plaintiff undergoing an anterior surgical fusion and plating.
Other Information
The settlement was reached approximately two years and eight months after the incident without the necessity of a suit being filed. (Florida has a four year statute of limitation on negligence.)
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