ATV Accidents: Personal Injury Verdict Believed to be Single Person Record against New York State
A police officer was recently awarded $14.8 million against New York state in a very interesting personal injury lawsuit involving a freak ATV accident and liability questions.
Police officer Scott Brumber was driving down a closed pathway after a shift in May 2002 when his ATV got snagged on a metal pipe sticking out of the sandy roadway, flipped over, and then landed on him and crushed his spine. Brumber is now confined to a wheelchair.
Brumber was unaware that he was not supposed to be driving on the shortcut, and his New York personal injury attorney showed that the state posted no signs indicating the pathway as off-limits and didn't even close off the area.
The personal injury attorney also demonstrated that the state created and knew of the hazard as the pipe was leftover from a state-constructed snow fence that hadn't been maintained, and successfully proved negligence since the state did nothing to remove the danger.