A driver’s negligence may cause your car accident. An MRI may show that you have a herniated disc in your neck. If so, you may be entitled to compensation.
Let’s look at some settlements and verdicts where the injured person claimed that a car or truck crash in Florida caused or aggravated a herniated disc in their neck.
Passenger Gets $25,000 for Herniated Discs and Other Injuries from Car Crash
A passenger got $25,000 after a car rear ended him in Key Largo. The damage to back of the truck can be seen in the photo above.
He claimed that the wreck caused or aggravated his herniated discs at C3-C4, C4-C5, and C5-C6. He also claimed that the crash caused or worsened his upper back and lower back injury, shoulder labrum tear, finger and knee injury.
I represented the passenger.
$17,000 Settlement for Two Herniated Discs From Car Accident
Learn about a lady in her early 20’s who got a $17,000 settlement after another driver rear ended her.
She claimed the crash caused or aggravated a herniated disc at C3-C4, and C4-C5
State Farm and Liberty Mutual insured the negligent driver and car owner. Liberty Mutual settled for $10,000. State Farm paid $7,000.
In Florida, a car owner is liable for a permissive driver’s negligence.
Truck Driver Gets $210,000 for Cervical Herniated Disc and Shoulder Injury
A truck driver crashed into the back of another truck. The truck driver in the truck (whose rear was hit) claimed that the crash caused or aggravated his herniated discs at C3-C4, C5-C6 and C6-C7.
The careless driver was under dispatch for a trucking company at the time of the accident. The company had a self-insured retention (SIR) of $250,000 or so. Broadspire was the third party administrator (TPA).
Travelers Insurance Company was the trucking company’s bodily injury (BI) liability insurer.
I settled another herniated disc case for $95,000. My client also waited days to treat after the crash.
$100,000 Settlement for Herniated Disc after Car Accident
A man was driving a car, heading straight. A 18 wheeler truck was heading in the opposite direction. The truck made a left-hand turn.
The front of the car crashed into the side of the truck. The driver of the car was diagnosed with a herniated disc at C5-C6 (in his neck).
The crash happened in Homestead, Miami-Dade County, Florida. The damage to my client’s car is seen in the picture above.
Zurich Insurance Company insured the truck.
$39,000 Settlement for Auto Accident that Caused or Aggravated Herniated Disc
My client was driving a pickup truck in Pinecrest, Florida. A car ran a stop sign and crashed into him.
Before the crash, he had pain in his back and neck. He claimed that the collision caused or worsened his herniated discs at C6-C7 and C3-C4.
He had steroid injections. GEICO paid its $20,000 bodily injury liability (BIL) limits to settle.
NARS paid $19,000 in underinsured motorist insurance. The total settlement was for $39,000.
Actual Case (Not mine) : $350,000 for the pain & suffering component of a C4-C5 herniated disc. The total jury verdict for all damages was over a million dollars.
The car crash happened in 2012. The case is Hurtado v. DeSouza, Fla: Dist. Court of Appeals, 4th Dist. 2015.
210,000 verdict for pain and suffering
This isn’t my case. A man was awarded $210,000 in pain and suffering for two herniated discs (C6-C7 and L4-L5), erectile dysfunction and a spinal cord contusion (bruise).
One of the herniated discs was in his neck (C6-C7). The other was in his lower back (L4-L5).
The injured man was also awarded past and future medical expenses of $231,000. This was a head on collision.
The careless driver was uninsured. The man sued his uninsured motorist liability insurer, Allstate.
The case is Allstate Insurance Company v. Marotta, 125 So. 3d 956 – Fla: Dist. Court of Appeals, 4th Dist. 2013).
$100,000 Verdict for Pain & Suffering
This isn’t my case. In 2012, a 31 year old teacher was driving a car in Boynton Beach. She was hit by a car that ran a red light. She was taken to the hospital and complained of neck pain.
Her orthopedic diagnosed her with a cervical (neck) disc herniation at C4-5. She treated with a chiropractor.
She complained of neck pain. The jury, in Broward County, Florida, found that she had a permanent injury. She was given $100,000 in pain and suffering.
$80,000 of that amount was for future pain and suffering, and $20,000 was for past pain and suffering. The jury awarded her $100,000 for future medical treatment.
She was awarded $20,000 for past medical treatment which reflects the fact that she did not treat that much.
My thoughts: The $100,000 that she was awarded in pain and suffering is about $50,000 more than the top of settlement range that I use as a starting point when calculating pain and suffering for a herniated disc.
However, the value of pain and suffering in each case is different and depends upon the resultant disability.
Because she is expected to live another 45 years or so, the jury awarded her $2,000 of pain and suffering for each year for the rest of her life.
Driver Gets $7,500 for Herniated Disc in Neck from Minor Impact Crash
For our client, a driver, who was injured. A hit and run driver hit his car and fled the scene.
Our client’s first medical appointment was about seven days after the crash. He was diagnosed with a cervical sprain-strain, thoracic sprain-strain and lumbar sprain-strain.
About 1 month later, he had an MRI of the cervical spine. It showed a C5-C6 paracentral disk protrusion, moderate in size, compressing upon the thecal sac.
He treated for four months from the date of the accident. At the end of his treatment, the diagnosis was a lumbar strain.
I argued to the insurance company that punitive damages would be awarded since the negligent driver fled the accident scene. An injured victim may be able to get punitive damages if the car that hits him or her leaves the accident scene.
The careless driver was insured with Metlife.
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