A Jacksonville woman will receive nearly $3 million in a settlement with a road contractor and a dump truck company for a 2009 traffic accident on Interstate 10 in December 2009.
Melicent Sanders said her car was crushed between a dump truck and another car when she was driving on I-10 to investigate a child-abuse claim in Baldwin. At the time, I-10 had two lanes going east and two lanes going west. Hubbard Construction was hired for almost $58 million to add lanes to the highway, but the company did not close either of the lanes or add an emergency lane for oncoming construction vehicles.
The lawsuit stated that there was no regress lane for the travel lane, no police car with flashing lights, no warning signs.
Sanders said she has been in pain for more than three years and that she can’t even remember the accident.
On the day of the crash, the posted speed limit was 60 miles per hour and the minimum was 40 miles per hour. Her attorney believes the construction site should have slowed traffic to 15 miles per hour in order to prevent the accident.
It was alleged that the Florida Department of Transportation has regulations in place for construction sites, and the fact that there was nothing forcing the dump truck to slow down caused the accident.
Witnesses of the accident thought Sanders was dead.
She suffered bleeding on the brain, a dislocated right knee, a crushed left knee and a fractured left arm. She said that she was in a coma and cannot remember the accident.
Sanders stated that she cannot work or take care of her grandchildren and she is fearful about ever going through a construction site again. “I have a phobia that I think somebody is coming behind me to hit me again,” Sanders said.
Sanders said that the pain might be with her for the rest of her life. She said she still has to go to physical therapy.
If you or a loved one was injured in an automobile accident, contact one of our Gacovino Lake attorneys for further information at 1-800-246-HURT (4878).
