Mother Finds Help After Son Dies in a Motorcycle Crash

On November 15, 2013, our client’s 41-year-old son headed for the bank to deposit funds. Little did he know that this was the last favor he would do for anyone.

At the time of the accident, our client’s son was riding his motorcycle and headed straight on Mission Boulevard in Ontario, California. He had the right of way. Unfortunately, another person driving a passenger vehicle failed to stop at a stop sign. Our client’s son collided with the other driver’s vehicle in a T-bone accident. The force of the impact was so great that he flew off his bike and into the air before slamming into the hard pavement.

The son died immediately at the scene of the accident from multiple fractures to his face and chest and massive internal organ damage. His chest was completely fractured. Despite the fact that he was wearing a good quality full-face helmet, his face was destroyed.

The negligent driver was charged with vehicular manslaughter. She served time in jail and was required by the judge to do community service in a facility helping victims of accidents like the one she caused.

A Mother’s Worst Nightmare Begins

One of a parent’s worst fears is losing a child—it can be one of the most traumatic and life-altering experiences a person can go through. Our client’s nightmare began when a police officer arrived at her work to inform her of her son’s death. Her ordeal continued at the morgue where she was forced to identify her son’s body. She could barely even recognize the son she loved. The victim’s face and body were completely crushed and broken. Our client will carry this last memory of her son for the rest of her life.

Prior to the accident, our client and her son lived near each other and were extremely close. Our client had been estranged from her only other child—an adult daughter—for many years. It was as if her son was an only child, and she relied on him like many parents with children do.

However, their relationship went much deeper than this. Our client has always been passionate about horses and worked in the office at a horse farm. Her son also was employed there, so they were co-workers who saw each other every day at work as well as in their private lives.

While most people who are dealing with the grief of losing a loved one can escape into work to forget some of the heartache, she could not. Our client’s nightmare continued when she had to return to her job, where she was painfully reminded that her son had died every day.

Steinberg Injury Lawyers Get Our Client the Maximum Award When Others Would Just Settle

Steinberg Injury Lawyers was able to quickly settle our client’s claim with the negligent driver’s insurance company for the full policy limit—but it was only $15,000. Peter Steinberg knew that this would not put a dent into fully compensating her client. Fortunately, our client’s son had purchased uninsured motorist insurance to have coverage in a situation like this where the other driver was grossly uninsured. The firm turned to his motorcycle insurance company and made a first party claim on behalf of our client.

Although this case was about as black and white as they come in terms of both liability and the son’s death from the crash, his insurance company refused to do the right thing and settle this claim for the full policy limit of $485,000. Instead, the insurance company demanded that the case go to arbitration and insisted on taking a deposition of our client—forcing her to relive the whole ordeal in great detail.

The insurance company would not give up and offered to settle for $350,000. Many attorneys would have encouraged their clients to accept this offer to avoid doing any more work. Not Peter Steinberg—he was outraged at the ordeal the insurance company was putting his client through and wanted her to be fully compensated.

Peter Steinberg had already researched settlements in these types of cases and was confident his client should receive $485,000. Armed with his research, he threatened to file a bad faith lawsuit asking for punitive damages. The insurance company caved in and settled this case for our client for exactly what she was entitled to—$485,000. While nothing can ever compensate our client for the heartache of losing her son, this settlement gave her some closure and peace of mind, knowing that she will be able to pay for the assistance she would have relied on from her son as she grows older.