What harm could possibly come from a driver briefly ignoring a few painted lines on a road? An Iowan behind the wheel of a flashy SUV, stuck behind a line of vehicles at a stoplight, decided to test that question. The column of cars was just long enough to block his access to the empty left turn lane ahead. He roared around them and into a painted traffic island. A few car lengths beyond him and to the right, a motorcyclist was waiting to turn left out of a convenience store driveway. One of the courteous drivers in the stopped queue of vehicles waved the motorcyclist through a gap between them. The motorcyclist looked both ways and inched through the opening, unaware of the SUV barreling down on his path. Right as the motorcyclist cleared the gap, the SUV bulldozed into him, brutally ending his joyride before it could even begin. He was rushed to a nearby hospital with a shattered leg.
The victim, Craig, was a solitary sixty-year-old on a fixed income. His greatest love was cruising on his motorcycle — a 1984 Honda Shadow VT500C. He rode whenever weather permitted. Tragically, the accident ripped that pleasure out from underneath him. His gruesome leg injury rendered the stairway between his upstairs apartment and the outside world a nearly insurmountable obstacle. Moreover, even if he'd still been able to ride a motorcycle, he didn't have one anymore; the collision had obliterated it. Craig already knew while in the hospital that his simple life was over.
While he was still an inpatient, Craig called Peter Leehey, the founder and a senior partner of The Biker Lawyers. An avid motorcyclist and injury attorney for decades, Pete’s career in advocacy had been devoted to helping victims of crashes exactly like Craig's. Within a week of the accident, Pete met Craig in his apartment, saw firsthand the horrible situation that he was in, and resolved to make it right. His mountain of experience with similar cases told him that Craig's would nevertheless be an uphill battle.
The case's insurance adjuster confronted Pete before he'd even filed suit and pressed him about why he'd taken it on. As far as they knew, the crash had been entirely Craig's fault. To them, there was no chance of the Defense agreeing to a settlement. Pete instructed the adjuster to "stay tuned." His first objective was to get a feel for the scene of the accident. Pete personally traveled to the convenience store and saw that the adjoining road didn't feature a concrete island but did have a painted one. He realized that the Defendant had ignored the painted island and driven straight through it. He immediately solicited video footage from the convenience store, which showed how the Defendant's vehicle appeared out of nowhere before striking Craig. Pete also discovered that the Defendant resided near the scene of the accident, meaning that he would certainly have been familiar with the road and its markings.
The next hurdle to overcome was the investigating officer's report stating that Craig had caused the collision all on his own. Pete arranged a meeting with the investigating officer to discuss his comprehensive knowledge of the scene of the accident. To his delight, the officer amended the report to reflect that the SUV driver shared blame for the incident. Pete’s unprecedented accomplishment was the breakthrough he needed to push the case through litigation.
Pete took immense care to balance the cost of his strategy against the recovery that his client deserved. He ultimately decided not to hire any experts; Craig's injuries were irrefutable. He knew, however, that an illustration of the Defendant's ignorance of the painted island would be critical to getting Craig's case across the finish line. He contacted DK Global and inquired about what sort of animated reconstruction they could create on his relatively tight budget.
DK Global's concise presentation opened on a satellite view of the scene of the accident. Graphical overlays highlighted where the Defendant's vehicle passed through the painted traffic island. The animation showcased the vehicle driving into the restricted area and intersecting with the victim's path of travel. The animation also emphasized the location of a vehicle containing a key witness.
Once Pete had DK Global's presentation, he was confident that he could effectively establish liability. After viewing the animation, the Defense made no serious attempts to argue comparative fault. They agreed to mediation, which resolved in under two hours. The case settled for just over $100,000, which Pete insisted wouldn't have been possible without DK Global's help. After his rehabilitation concluded sans any significant complications, Craig was able to replace his motorcycle, upgrade his living situation, and resume living his best life.
Peter Leehey is the founder and senior partner of The Biker Lawyers in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. His firm has fought for personal injury victims for over four decades. They've recovered millions of dollars for their clients, 90% of whom have been injured motorists. Pete has an AV Preeminent rating, the highest possible rating for legal ability and ethics from the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory. He's also been named a Top 100 Trial Lawyer in Iowa by the American Trial Lawyers Association. He serves as legal counsel for the Iowa and Minnesota Confederations of Motorcycle Clubs.
