If A Driver Has A Medical Emergency And Causes A Collision, Is He Liable?

Did you see this crazy article in the Star Telegram yesterday? An SUV crashed into a church and Pews and furniture — including the sofa that a man had just been sitting on — were destroyed.

Fortunately noone was injured. “I’m so lucky,” Kim said (through a translator). “Thank goodness, God spared my life.”

It is not clear at this time why the driver of the SUV lost control. A medical condition is suspected. The driver was taken to JPS Hospital.

I have handled different cases over the years where a driver caused a motor vehicle collision and claimed that he was not legally responsible because he had suffered from a medical condition.

I was able to resolve a case a few months ago where a man crashed his truck into my client then kept driving before he crashed into another car a mile down the road. He tried to say that he had experienced a diabetic coma and his insurance company refused to pay the claim. I filed suit and after conducting discovery, forced the man to admit that he knew that he should not have been driving without safe blood sugar levels. The case settled on favorable terms for my client.

I have another similar case pending. A man lost consciousness and crashed into the rear of my client’s car. He fled the scene, but his license plate left a partial imprint in my client’s bumper. A few minutes later, the same man crashed into another car which finally caused his vehicle to stop moving. By researching the license plate, I tracked down the police report for the second crash and found the driver’s name and insurance information.

In both cases, the claims were originally denied because the insurance companies claimed that the crashes were a result of a “sudden emergency” and not negligence. However, after reviewing the medical records of the defendants, I was able to prove negligence in both cases and recover large amounts of money for my clients.

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