Head On Collision Auto Accident

An unfortunate accident occurred in Ventura County on January 19, 2005. This is what we call a wrongful death accident in the legal business. Plaintiff Kathleen Donovan was killed while stopped for traffic on highway 101 just north of Ventura, California. Ms. Donovan was the daughter of 72 year old retired nurse Constance Donovan. The interesting part of this case concerns the two defendants who were involved in the accident. Ms. Kathleen Donovan was rear-ended by a Gold Coast Erectors company truck.

The driver of the aforementioned vehicle argued that the accident was partially the fault of co-defendant Johnson and Weatherford USLP. Gold Coast Erectors driver contended that co-defendant Johnson’s truck was so big that it impaired his view of plaintiff’s vehicle until the last minute when defendant Johnson swerved to avoid striking plaintiff. They argued that Johnson did not keep a proper look-out and failed to slow in a more appropriate manner so as not to cause an emergency maneuver.

The Jury found for plaintiff but apportioned 10% of the fault to Johnson for not paying attention. The final verdict was $1,200,000. Thus, Johnson would pay $120,000 and the rest would be paid by defendant Gold Coast Erectors.

At Penney and Associates we handle all types of personal injury cases including wrongful death, auto accidents, motorcycle accidents, personal watercraft accidents, boating accidents, airplane accidents and many others. We can be contacted at 1-800-616-4529 or see our website at www.penneyandassociates.com.