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King County, WA jury awards $874,400 to motorcyclist after finding UPS to be at fault in a motorcycle collision with a delivery van

Accident Type: 
Motorcycle Accident
Incident Date: 
Monday, October 15, 2007
Result Date: 
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Monetary Result: 
$1,093,000
Motorcyclist Kevin Hartley was travelling on 15th Avenue West in Seattle when a UPS courier failed to yield the right-of-way to opposing traffic. Hartley's motorcycle subsequently collided with the delivery van. He sustained multiple fractures, including to his ankle, leg, tibula, hand and wrist. The motorcyclist suffered permanent disfigurement; he now walks with a limp and experiences chronic pain. The defendent, UPS, contended that Hartley was driving behind the van and struck the back bumper, placing the proximate cause of the accident on him. The jury found that the courier and the UPS company to be 80% at fault, while Hartley was 20% at fault due to his own contributory negligence. Therefore the award of $1,093,000 was reduced to $874,400.

Truckers are the third largest motorist group using Nevada's highways, and commercial trucking accidents occur regularly in Las Vegas. When a truck crash happens, serious injuries and fatalities are a common result.

Common causes of commercial truck accidents in Las Vegas

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a large percentage of trucking crashes are caused by:

Does size matter? In car v. semi crashes like this one, yes it does

A recent catastrophic accident involving two semi tractor trailers and six cars or pickup trucks showed how clearly large trucks have the advantage in an accident. However, does this mean cars are always going to lose in accidents with bigger vehicles? Increasingly, materials and engineering have leveled the field. Read more from Bill Coats Law in Bellingham, WA about top safety ratings for cars