Our client v. Truck driver:
$500,000 settlement for the wrongful death of a 55 year old divorced man from Moraga, California. Plaintiff was riding his bicycle with a group of other cyclists around San Pablo Reservoir just north of Orinda, California. He was riding on the white line separating a two lane roadway from the shoulder. There was no designated bike lane although the shoulder was quite wide. A large pick up truck passed him and got so close to him that it bumped his body or his bicycle causing him to go out of control when he was traveling downhill at approximately 35MPH. Plaintiff was an accomplished cyclist who had recently completed The Death Ride in the Sierras and was wearing a helmet and cycling gloves. Plaintiff was unable to recover and went down hard on the pavement hitting his head and damaging his helmet. He was rushed from the scene, never regained consciousness and died the next day of massive head injuries. The defendant driver denied that he came near the cyclist and claimed that he did not even know there had been an accident until one of the other riders sprinted ahead and yelled at him to stop. The defendant only had $100,000 in liability coverage which plaintiff collected after considerable discovery and dispute after the matter was mediated. Fortunately plaintiff had a $500,000 underinsured motorist policy and plaintiff's son was able to collect $400,000 on it making the total recovery $500,000.
