Facts

On March 27, 2004, at approximately 8:30 a.m., plaintiff Brent Bockover, 37, his wife, Chelsea Bockover, 28, their two children, Bryce Bockover, 3, and Brielle Bockover, 5, and Brent's mother, Sue Ann Bockover, 57, were driving in their 2004 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck on State Highway 160 in Sacramento County, just north of the Antioch bridge. Brent Bockover was driving approximately 50 mph, Sue Ann was in the passenger seat, Chelsea was in the middle seat of the back seat, and their two children were strapped in car seats on each side of Chelsea. They were towing trailer upon which was Brent's 1966 Chevelle. They were on their way to Sacramento at the time of the accident to attend drag races.

O.C. Rhone was driving a 1994 Dodge Caravan and was driving with a group of four vehicles looking for a place to fish in the Delta. O.C. Rhone and the other vehicles in the fishing party were entering Highway 160 from Sherman Island Road at the time of the accident.

The third vehicle involved in the accident was a tractor-trailer owned by Garaventa Enterprises that was being driven by defendant Ismael Sandoval.

According to witnesses, the tractor-trailer being driven by Sandoval was traveling in a southerly direction on Highway 160, at a high rate of speed, when the four vehicles in Rhone's fishing party began to enter Highway 160 from Sherman Island Road, and turn left. Rhone's van was the last of the four vehicles to turn left onto the highway.

Sandoval saw at least some of the fishing party enter the highway, and did not slow his vehicle until it was too late, and his truck collided with the van driven by Rhone, and then jackknifed across Highway 160, directly in the path of the Bockover vehicle. The California Highway Patrol exonerated the Garaventa vehicle and determined that the cause of the accident was Rhone's failure to yield to the traffic.

Injuries

Brent, Chelsea and Sue Bockover all received multiple serious orthopedic injuries that required lengthy stays in the hospital. Chelsea and Sue Bockover returned to work within the first year after the accident, and Brent Bockover has not yet returned to work. The two children were in car seats in the back of the vehicle and were not seriously injured.

Result

O.C. Rhone was insured with minimal insurance coverage policy limits of $15,000/$30,000. The case settled after two years of litigation and two separate mediation sessions with the Hon. Richard Park, retired, for a total of $1,775,000, with O.C. Rhone paying his policy limits, and the Garaventa defendants paying $1,750,000.