$2.7 MILLION DOLLAR
VERDICT ANNOUNCED

On behalf of woman severely injured when she hit dead horse on roadway

(Port Townsend, WA) – On Friday July 2nd a Jefferson County jury awarded a woman from Chimacum a verdict of $2.7 million for permanent injuries received when her car hit a dead horse left on the road by a telephone company worker.

 

The horse that strayed onto the highway was initially hit by an employee of United Telephone Company of the Northwest (a Sprint company) who left the scene, allegedly to seek help. The employee was driving a company utility bucket truck, equipped with flares, safety cones, and other safety devices that could have been used to warn drivers to exercise caution. Bill McGonagle, attorney of Bainbridge Island, represented the injured driver. “This injury could have been easily prevented if the Sprint truck driver would have just stopped to protect the scene.”

 

The collision occurred on December 14, 2001 about 5 PM on Center Road in Jefferson County. It was a dark, overcast night and is an unlit stretch of highway. The victim, 36 year old Nanette Aurdal, was on her way home from work, driving under the speed limit, when she struck the dead black horse that was lying in the southbound lane. No one else was in her car.

 

 

 

 

According to an eye witness, her car vaulted off of the horse, became airborne, and crashed back to the pavement, finally coming to rest some 200 feet down the road. Aurdal sustained a “full body whiplash, pulling her spine, nerves and muscles so severely that conservative treatments did little benefit. She had to resort to an implanted pain pump (an implanted medical device that secretes pain medication from an implanted pain pump in the abdomen directly into the spinal cord) to get a modicum of pain relief,” stated McGonagle.

 

“She has suffered for nine years, and doctors have determined that she will endure pain for the rest of her life.” Parent company Sprint made the victim no offer to settle her claim prior to trial and accepted no responsibility for the incident.

 

Questions about the verdict should be directed to attorney Bill McGonagle, Sherrard McGonagle &Tizzano, (206) 842-5681.

 

To obtain a hard copy of this press release, please contact

Wendy Shanahan at (206) 842-5681