Within the vast range of personal injury cases, Trantolo & Trantolo’s lawyers handle motorcycle and vehicular accident claims. Recently, Attorney Keith Trantolo reached a $465,000 settlement concerning such an incident in Middletown.
According to court documents for Christopher Bove v. Robert Francis, Jr., Bove had been riding his motorcycle on Newfield Street in Middletown when Francis left the Napa Auto Parts parking lot. Francis attempted to make a left turn around Bove – a move that’s a frequent cause of motorcycle accidents – when the plaintiff hit Francis’ car and flew through the air. The motorcycle skidded across two lanes of traffic.
At the scene of the accident, Francis took responsibility but claimed he didn’t see the motorcycle rider until he had driven halfway into the lane. According to a statement Atty. Trantolo made to the Connecticut Law Tribune, Bove didn’t believe Francis would pull out so soon, and that the motorcycle rider was just 20 to 30 feet away.
Witnesses confirmed the events, after first hearing the skidding and then seeing the accident. As well, the motorcycle’s skid marks indicated Bove hadn’t been speeding.
After the accident, Bove was taken to Hartford Hospital, where doctors found several serious injuries, some requiring emergency surgery: a spleen laceration, five ribs fractured on the left side, a punctured lung, and fractures to both sides of the pelvis. Additional injuries included a hernia, a bruised kidney, bone fractures to the middle of the back, a broken clavicle, soft tissue injuries to the low and mid back, and a mutilation-type hand injury making gripping difficult.
While the plaintiff has since gone onto complete schooling and wasn’t left with a permanent disability, he has a permanent bulge in his abdomen and discomfort whenever sitting or standing.
In total, Bove spent eight days in the hospital and went through 10 days of physical and occupational therapy. His treatment came to $210,884, and he lost $4,000 in missed wages from temporary work.
According to the Connecticut Law Tribune, obvious liability and the potentially-greater jury verdict convinced the defendant to settle.
