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$10,000 Cook County Verdict Entered in Red Light / Green Arrow Crash

On Nov. 30, 2010, Matthew Boyle was driving southbound on Forest Preserve Drive when he made a left turn with a green arrow onto eastbound Irving Park Road in Chicago.  The defendant, 25-year-old Erica Rodriguez, ran the red light while traveling westbound on Irving Park and her car collided with the Boyle car in the intersection.

Boyle, 29, was knocked unconscious and suffered a forehead laceration, which required five stitches, neck and shoulder sprain and chronic low back pain as a result of the crash.  Boyle also claimed $2,700 for lost time from his job as a funeral director because of his injuries.

The Boyle car was destroyed in the crash.  Photos of the damage to the vehicles were allowed into evidence by the court to prove the force of the impact, which was hard.

The trial judge also defaulted Rodriguez on the issue of negligence due to pretrial discovery violations after the defendant chose not to cooperate, answer discovery and appear for deposition.  Rodriguez also failed to appear at the trial.

The defendant disputed the extent of the injuries claimed by Boyle and denied that he had chronic low back pain or that it was related to this collision.  The jury’s verdict was subject to a set off for previously settled medical payment made by Boyle’s insurance carrier.  This reduced the judgment against Rodriguez to just $7,385.

Before the trial, the demand to settle the case was $17,385.  At trial, plaintiff’s counsel asked the jury for a verdict of $535,240. The defendant’s offer to settle the case before trial was $12,000 taking into account the med pay from the plaintiff’s insurance carrier.

The attorneys for the Matthew Boyle were John N. Dore and James M. Dore.

Matthew Boyle v. Erica Rodriguez, 11 L 9487 (Cook County, Illinois).

Kreisman Law Offices has been successfully handling car accident cases, intersection crashes and truck collision cases for individuals and families who have been harmed, injured or died as a result of the carelessness or negligence of another for more than 38 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Park Ridge, Oak Park, Norwood Park, Round Lake Beach, St. Charles, Lake Forest, Lockport, Mundelein, Niles, Chicago (Bridgeport, Humboldt Park, Hyde Park, Irving Park, Jefferson Park, Kilbourn Park, Koreatown, Horner Park, Garfield Park, Edison Park), Lisle and Geneva, Ill.

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