Articles Posted in Car Crash

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Robert Jones was injured while he was delivering supplies to a Pizza Hut restaurant in South Elgin, Ill. Jones was struck by the pizza delivery car driven by defendant Bibiana Bojorge in the parking lot of the pizza restaurant. Jones injured his knee. The jury’s verdict of $489,364.05, which was reduced by 5% for contributory negligence of Mr. Jones, was appealed by the defendants Bojorge and Pizza Hut.

The issue on appeal was whether the trial judge was in error in admitting into evidence the plaintiff’s prior consistent statement to his wife that he was hit by defendant’s car. The defendant had made  Jones’s credibility the centerpiece of their defense at trial. The plaintiff’s prior consistent statement was admissible to rebut the charge that plaintiff’s prior testimony was a fabrication, especially when the evidence included defendant’s written statement in which she admitted that she “hit the delivery guy.”  The appellate court affirmed the trial judge’s order and the jury verdict stands.

The facts were that the plaintiff  Jones, a delivery truck driver working at a Pizza Hut location, claimed that the defendant Bojorge, a pizza delivery driver, struck him with a car as he was moving boxes of dough on his dolly, injuring his knee. 

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Twenty-two-year-old Bryan Widstrand was driving into a parking garage at Concordia University in River Forest, Ill., when 19-year-old Paige Kecseg backed out of a parking spot and hit the passenger side of Widstrand’s car. Widstrand contended that the impact caused him to suffer herniated discs at C5-6 and C6-7. In addition, he complained of headaches, neck/back and shoulder pain as well as numbness in his right forearm and two fingers. He also claimed the accident-related injuries caused him to become dependent on pain medicine resulting in rehabilitation at MacNeal Hospital for drug dependency.

The defendant denied that she was negligent and argued that the plaintiff was speeding. Kecseg contended that there were inconsistencies in Widstrand’s testimony at trial and denied that he was injured. She pointed to the fact that the plaintiff had gone on numerous trips since the accident, including two visits to Europe and a mountain hiking trip one month prior to the trial. 

This case was a one-day “stipulated facts” trial with Judge Michael Panter of the Circuit Court of Cook County. The judge read the medical treatment summary to the jury. The attorney for Widstrand reported that he asked the jury for approximately $150,000 while the defendant’s attorney reported that the plaintiff’s counsel asked the jury for a verdict of $209,637. The offer to settle before trial was $4,350 with a demand to settle at $100,000.

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The Illinois Appellate Court has affirmed a decision by a Cook County trial judge. Krysztof Emiljanowicz, a truck driver, agreed to act as a contractor for SSTS, Inc. On May 12, 2004, Krysztof signed an agreement in which he agreed to transport freight for SSTS in his semitrailer. 

SSTS said that its policy required truck contractors to have their equipment inspected, to carry only SSTS freight while under contract with SSTS and to place decals on their vehicles showing that they were authorized to operate. 

Later that same day, Krysztof was on his way to pick up a friend; they planned to ride together in Krysztof’s truck to a mechanic for a check-up. Before starting the new job, and on the way to the mechanic, Krysztof crashed into a vehicle driven by Barbara Kawacki-Horowitz.

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