Queens Jury Awards $255,000 in Rear-End Collision Negligence

In Queens, a female plaintiff filed a motor vehicle negligence lawsuit against a defendant following a rear-end collision on May 10, 2004, on Manetto Hill Road. The plaintiff alleged the defendant negligently struck her SUV while she was stopped at a red traffic signal. As a result, she claimed to have sustained permanent cervical disc herniations and protrusions from C3 to C7, requiring a lifetime of pain management. She testified that her vehicle sustained minimal damage, but the impact caused significant injuries, for which she sought treatment approximately six weeks after the incident.

The defendant disputed the plaintiff's claims, arguing that she did not sustain a serious impairment of bodily function and that her spinal injuries were pre-existing or degenerative, potentially stemming from a slip and fall a year prior. The plaintiff's chiropractor testified that the current disc herniations were new and directly related to the collision, not the previous fall. A pain management expert and a neurosurgeon corroborated the permanency of the plaintiff's injuries, with an economist estimating future medical costs at $857,000. The defendant's expert orthopedic surgeon, however, opined that the injuries were degenerative and the collision's impact would not have caused serious spinal damage.

After an eight-day trial and two days of deliberations, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff. The jury awarded the plaintiff $255,000 in damages.