This was an action involving serious personal injury suffered by Carrie as a result of a two-vehicle collision at the intersection of High Street and South Higuera Street in the City of San Luis Obispo. Carrie, a student at Cal Poly university who was residing with her parents, had left home minutes before, driving the family’s Ford Taurus, heading to a local gym to work out, and was only three blocks from home at the time of the crash.
Carrie had stopped at the red light at the intersection of South Higuera. The signal was already red as Carrie approached the limit line at the intersection; Carrie stopped there for approximately 30 seconds prior to the light turning green. Carrie then began to enter the intersection to make a left turn onto South Higuera when her vehicle was suddenly and violently broadsided by Defendant.
An eyewitness to the incident was stopped in his vehicle directly behind Carrie, had corroborated that Carrie had a green light and that Defendant ran the red light. Defendant’s SUV slammed into Carrie’s vehicle, striking just behind the driver’s door, causing the Taurus to spin counter-clockwise through the intersection until it stopped near the roadside curb on the opposite side of the road. I tried Carrie’s casebefore the Honorable Charles S. Crandall. The offer at mediation was $0.00; the jury awarded $1,166,000.00. With costs and interest, the trial recovery was $1,550,000.00.