Facts

On June 2, 2011, at 7:42 a.m., plaintiff Gwendolyn Abasta was traveling west on California Ave. approaching the intersection of Hill Ave. in Pasadena, when a collision occurred with defendant Jose Vitelio Alvarado.

Plaintiff sued Alvarado and his employer, defendant Texas Automobile Leasing doing business as Lexus of Glendale.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiff contended she was traveling at 30 mph crossing into the intersection as the green light turned yellow. Plaintiff claimed that Alvarado was waiting to make a left turn onto Hill, when suddenly and without warning Alvarado made a left turn and collided into plaintiff's vehicle.

Plaintiff claimed she was thrown about in her vehicle, and struck her right knee against the dashboard. As the airbags deployed, plaintiff claimed her body hit hard against the airbag. Following the incident, plaintiff was frightened and in shock and claimed she began feeling excruciating pain in her right knee. Furthermore, she had difficulty breathing and severe chest pain.

Plaintiff alleged that Alvarado made an unsafe left turn and failed to yield to Abasta in violation of California Vehicle Code section 21801(a). Plaintiff argued that there was no comparative negligence since Abasta was abiding by the speed limit and traveling in a reasonable and safe manner.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Alvarado contended that he had a green arrow for his direction of travel at the time of the collision and that plaintiff ran a red light for her direction of travel. Defendants claimed that Abasta was speeding.

Specials in Evidence

$460,000

Injuries

Plaintiff was transported by ambulance to Huntington Memorial Hospital where she was treated for a shattered patella, torn ligaments, broken ribs and several disc herniations in her cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine. Once at Huntington Memorial, showing signs of a patella fracture, she was placed into a knee immobilizer. She continued to complain of right knee pain, pain to her left hand and left dorsal foot. Radiographs obtained on the same day confirmed that she had sustained a fracture to her right knee involving the superior one-third of the patella in the transverse plane with a moderate amount of destruction between the two fragments of approximately 1.3 cm. Plaintiff then underwent an open reduction and internal fixation right patella fracture. Following her release from the hospital, she treated for her ongoing right knee complaints. Over the next three years, she underwent an additional four surgeries to her right knee. Additionally, she underwent epidural injections to her neck and back.

Result

The case settled for $1,750,000.

Other Information

FILING DATE: May 15, 2013.