Buffalo, New York | $400,000 | Motor Vehicle Collision
After an eight-day trial in the City Court of Buffalo, a jury returned a $400,000 verdict for Jack Donaldson of Orchard Park, New York.
Donaldson was a passenger in a van on its way back to Buffalo after a one-day hunting trip in Allegany County. Defendant Carty, driving south on State Route 219, crossed over the center line and collided head on with the van. She testified during the trial that she skidded on a patch of "black ice" causing her to lose control. Ballow proved at trial that the tires on her car showed insufficient tread depth and that she was anemic and had not eaten for over 10 hours and had been driving nonstop for eight hours.
Donaldson suffered bulging discs in his low back. The defendant's insurance carrier offered only $20,000 prior to trial. At the time the verdict was rendered, this was the highest verdict ever rendered in Buffalo City Court.
