Date: 07-30-2002

Case Style: Carlson v. McClintock

Case Number: 05771 LACL086826

Judge: Unknown

Court: Polk County District Court

Plaintiff's Attorney:

Mark A. Rouleau , Rockford, Illinois

Justin Lavan, West Des Moines, Iowa

Defendant's Attorney:

Michael F. Lacey, Jr. of Patterson, Lorentzen, Duffield, Timmons, Irish, Becker & Ordway, L.L.P, Des Moines, Iowa

Description:

Drunk Driver Rear Ends Moped at Night – Torn ACL

The plaintiff Nathaniel Carlson was 17 years old at the time of the collision.

The collision occurred at 11 pm when the plaintiff was driving home from an evening at his friend's home. The defendant had been drinking most of the evening she drove her car into the rear end of the plaintiff's moped lodging it in her bumper. The plaintiff was catapulted from the seat into the handlebars causing derangement of his knee. At the time of the collision while waiting for the police to arrive the defendant asked one of the witnesses "What are we doing here?" In spite of the fact that the moped was stuck in her front bumper, the witness had to tell her that she had been in a collision. The defendant's BAC was 0.148 at 12:41 almost two hours after the collision. The defendant was charged with the offense of OWI to which she plead guilty paying only a small fine and was given a "deferred prosecution." The plaintiff suffered a complete tear of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and a grade 2 sprain of the (TCL, MCL).

He underwent an allograft reconstruction of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) suffering a post surgical infection that was treated with IV antibiotics.

The total medical specials at the time of settlement were $20,457. There was no wage loss as he was a student at the time of the collision and the initial surgery. The case settled for $185,000.

Outcome: Settled for $185,000

Plaintiff's Experts: none

Defendant's Experts: none

Comments: Reproted by Mark Rouleau