Our client was injured in an automobile collision in Culpeper, Virginia. At the time of the collision, our client was traveling north and proceeding to make a left turn through a protected green light. At the same time, a vehicle operated by another driver proceeded through the intersection at a red light and struck the side of her vehicle. He was initially charged with failure to obey a traffic light and was issued a ticket, which he prepaid. The at-fault driver did not have insurance at the time of the collision causing us to make an uninsured claim for our client.
As a result of the collision, our client sustained injury to her right shoulder with radiating pain to her right wrist and hand. She also sustained severe headaches which lasted for several weeks after the collision. After the collision, our client drover herself to Culpeper Regional Hospital and was given pain medication and released.
She then followed up with the University of Virginia for her headaches and right shoulder pain. She was given a prescription to assist with the headaches and her arm was allowed to improve on its own. She continued to have pain in her wrist. While she had a history of carpel tunnel syndrome, she was not experiencing any issues with her wrist at the time of the accident. The pain increased over the next few weeks and it was her doctor’s recommendation that she be a candidate for surgical intervention. Our client then had surgery on her wrist.
The insurance company refused to make a fair offer for settlement and a lawsuit was filed in the Culpeper Circuit Court. This case was settled prior to trial. While the surgeon was not able to relate the surgery to the collision, it was noted that the collision may have sped up the need for the surgery. Even though we were not able to include the surgery for settlement purposes, we were able to obtain a settlement that exceeded a little over two times the medical bills. This was an increase in the offer made before filing suit. Fortunately for our client, she had underinsured/uninsured coverage on her vehicle which protected her against the uninsured driver who caused the collision. Without this coverage, she would not have been able to make a recovery because this individual did not have auto insurance or assets from which to recover.
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