Montgomery County Jury Awards $469,026 in Rear-End Collision

In July 2012, a plaintiff was operating a vehicle stopped at a stoplight on Highway 105 in Montgomery County, Texas, when it was rear-ended by a truck operated by an employee of Houston Shutters LLC. The plaintiff, 55, claimed neck injuries. The plaintiff subsequently sued the truck operator for negligence, citing a failure to maintain a proper lookout, control speed, follow at a safe distance, and avoid the collision. Houston Shutters LLC was also named as a defendant under a theory of *respondeat superior*.

The defendants stipulated to the truck operator's negligence as a proximate cause of the accident but disputed the nature, extent, and causation of the plaintiff's claimed injuries. They argued that a second rear-end collision, which occurred three months later in October 2012 involving a different driver, was the sole proximate cause of any injuries the plaintiff sustained on or after that date. The plaintiff later added the second driver as a defendant but settled with that driver for $25,000 prior to trial. The plaintiff contended that the initial accident aggravated pre-existing degenerative conditions and a previously undiagnosed small spine. Her experts opined that the first accident was the sole proximate cause of her injuries, while the defense maintained the initial collision was minor and that subsequent medical treatments, including surgeries, were unrelated to it or medically unnecessary.

The case proceeded to trial against the original defendants. The jury found negligence on the part of both the first truck operator and the driver involved in the second accident, assigning 90% comparative responsibility to the first truck operator and 10% to the second driver. The jury awarded the plaintiff $470,000 in damages for past and future medical costs, physical impairment, disfigurement, and physical pain and mental anguish. Following the verdict, the court denied a post-trial motion by the plaintiff to disregard the award for medical bills. After applying a $25,000 credit for the prior settlement and adding prejudgment interest of $24,026, the court entered a final judgment of $469,026 for the plaintiff.