Failure to Yield Right of Way Yields $51,000 Texas Personal Injury Verdict
A man and woman seeking a combined $200,000 in damages in their Texas personal injury lawsuit against a driver who they said failed to yield the right of way and thus caused their car accident injuries was recently awarded a quarter of what they were asking for. Carl Skiles and Alicia Weaver claimed that they sustained a combined $70,000 worth of damages when defendant Michael Choate failed to yield the right of way in September of 2005 and then struck their vehicle. After a one day personal injury trial, a jury awarded Skiles and Weaver a combined $51,167 in damages on Tuesday.
An online story in The Southeast Texas Record detailed that Skiles was awarded $35,190 of the personal injury settlement, with his awards including:
- $10,000 for physical pain & mental anguish;
- $1,500 for future pain and mental anguish;
- $3,000 for past physical impairment;
- $19,190.57 for medical costs;
- $500 for disfigurement; &
- $1,000 for property damage.
Weaver was awarded $15,977 with $1,440 of that accounting for lost wages. Both plaintiffs alleged in the personal injury lawsuit that Choate failed to properly look out into traffic and brake in time prior to the accident.