$7 million settlement for motorcycle accident

A Seattle area sheriff's deputy received a settlement in excess of $7 million for injuries he sustained in a motorcycle crash with a drunk driver.  He suffered injuries to his right leg which resulted in amputation, head injuries, internal injuries, and other fractures.

The accident happened when he was riding motorcycle and was hit by a drink driver who was pulling out of the parking lot of a tavern.  The drunk driver was a roofer from Arizona who was driving a company vehicle despite having a blood alcohol content of .31, well in excess of the legal limit in Washington.

Besides the amount of the settlement, this case is notable for how the settlement was funded.  Several insurance companies were involved in paying the settlement.  There was $6 million paid by the insurance company for the roofing company that owned the truck, $1 million by their liability insurance and an additional $5 million from an excess insurer, $1 million from the insurer of the dram shop, $100,000 from underinsured motorist coverage from the deputy's own policy, and $25,000 from the automobile liability insurer of the drunk driver.

This case underlines the importance of hiring experienced personal injury lawyers when you are involved in an accident with catastrophic injuries or wrongful death.  One thing that we do for clients who are involved in serious accidents such as this is identify all of the insurance coverage and all of the potentially liable parties so as to ensure that our clients come as close as possible to being fairly compensated for their injuries, even those who suffer injuries as terrible as the ones suffered by the sheriff's deputy in this case.