Neighborhood Cyclist v. Elderly Driver 2018

An elderly driver claimed the setting sun impaired his view when he ran a red light and struck our client, a 38-year-old husband and father, on his bicycle in North Portland. Our client was cycling home from a nearby neighborhood park after meeting his family at the playground. Our investigation and video of the setting sun on the one year anniversary of the wreck revealed that while the sun was a factor an attentive driver would have clearly seen the red light and the cyclist riding through the intersection.  Our client suffered a spinal cord injury with quadriplegia and was required to move to a different wheelchair accessible house after he was hurt. His devotion to his family inspired us all.  When the insurance companies did not have sufficient policy limits for his damages, we made a claim against the defendant’s own house and a family trust containing a rural timberland property. Our client’s catastrophic damages greatly exceeded available assets but a reverse mortgage on the defendant’s residence and sale of the rural property created funds for him and his family which were paid out over time, concluding in 2018.