Car Flips Onto Roof After Hitting Tractor Trailer Blocking Highway
May 28, 2025OUTCOME: $2 Million -Settlement
In 2022, plaintiff was driving a borrowed automobile and traveling home at night on a rural 2 lane highway. Plaintiff approached a semi-truck in the opposite lane and continued within the speed limit ... of 55 miles an hour. Plaintiff next recalled only that he “struck something in the road” and that his vehicle “flipped and rolled”. State police investigated and determined that the tractor the plaintiff passed was attempting to back its trailer into a driveway, so that its trailer was across the plaintiff’s traffic lane. The plaintiff had struck the defendant’s trailer and then flipped landing on its roof. The plaintiff was trapped upside down, but was extricated by EMTs and transported to the hospital where he was diagnosed with a compression fracture of T1, which was complicated due to the plaintiff’s prior C3-C7 ACDF. The plaintiff received an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion of C7-T1, C7 partial corpectomy and partial removal of retained hardware. The plaintiff was retired, so there was no lost wage claim. The plaintiff was subsequently hospitalized with infections in the surgical site but recovered fully. The state police did not charge the defendant as his trailer had the required retroflective tape, reflectors and lighting devices. A claim was initially presented to the defendant carrier, and it was denied. The plaintiff retained a conspicuity expert and accident reconstructionist. Based upon the crash scene photos and other information, it was determined that the conspicuity tape on the trailer was not reflective when viewed due to the angle of the trailer.
