Comments on: Company must pay $22M for cell phone/driving injury

By: John

John — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 03:14:32 +0000

How would you people feel if you had been hit by a truck to no fault of yours? People don’t understand that if they had gotten hit and they’re lives changed forever it would be different my mother was recently hit by a redbull truck while transporting a patient she will forever be changed,she literally can not sit lay walk or anything else without pain she isn’t aloud to lift over 10 pounds for te rest of her life..By the time my child is 2 months old my mother won’t be able to hold it while standing her being hit by an irresponsible driver effectes me my wife my father and my brother so how the hell are you gonna come in here saying it shouldnt be like be like winning the lottery?? How about I hit your ass with a delivery truck and see how much money you think it’s worth then..think before you speak you don’t know what kind of pain this woman is in

By: Scott Lemmons

Scott Lemmons — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:07:46 +0000

Just a few things to mention:

The article indicates the Coca Cola employee “was was on a business call on her hands-free cell phone when her CAR struck Chatman-Wilson’s “. So it would appear their was no truck involved in the accident.

We are all “judging” this with today’s information. Knowing the speed of the cvil courts I imagine the auto accident occured some time ago. For quite some time the belief was using a hands free device curtailed distraction.

Lastly, on a personal note. I was involved in a similar auto accident long before the proliferation of cell phones. Looking at the damage it would have appeared the young lady who struck my car l was aiming for me. She was heard saying “But I had the green light.” The intersection was controled by stop SIGNS not lights. She passed a field sobriety test so I presume distraction was the cause.

The point is distraction accidents have been occuring since cars were on the road. Yes, the distracted driver and to some degree Coke should be held resposible. That should not equate to an award that is the equivelent of “hitting the lottery”

By: Connie

Connie — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 14:10:54 +0000

Our company does have a cell phone policy–a very simple one….if you are driving, you DO NOT talk on the phone–hands-free or otherwise. If you are traveling and get that important call, then find a safe place to pull over (preferrably a parking lot of some sort instead of alongside the highway), and call the person back. Doesn’t get much simpler than that. NO call is more important than your life, or that of another person(s) you have caused injury to because of your inattention (I tend to call it stupidity, but you can’t write it that way in the employee handbook! )

By: Barry

Barry — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 19:44:01 +0000

The company admitted liability, however they are appealing the amount.

What seemed incredibly crazy was that the coca cola employee ‘testified’ they were unaware that the use of a cell phone while driving may be dangerous. this sounds strange for a supposedly qualified truck driver.

You also wonder if she was hit by an average Joe off the street if she would have taken the insurance coverage and be back at work and probably running marathons.

http://www.verdictsearch.com/index.jsp?do=news&rep=recent&art=206034
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southcentral/2012/05/07/246574.htm

By: VJ

VJ — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 19:40:47 +0000

@whatswrongwithpeople. I worked as a manager at a very large trucking company for 10 years before changing careers. You can rant and rave and make strawman arguments accusing other comments here about caring more about the money than the person. Many of the comments you put in your comments about Coke telling their employees they know it’s dangerous but don’t care “as long as they were making money for the company”, about her not being able to work, her needing more surgeries, and not being able to care for herself, are not in this article, or any other article I googled. I’m not sure how accurate your assessment is considering she was given 25% disability.
The issue I have with this case in particular is that a jury determined the amounts for pain and suffering, as well as punitive damages. I question the expertise of a jury, whose members we have no idea of their backgrounds, determining such a large amount of a fine with the sole intention of punishing a company.
I re-read all the comments made by others and myself, and I don’t think anyone else was out of line. That’s just my opinion.

By: VJ

VJ — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 18:01:31 +0000

I often wonder how people come to these amounts. I sat on a jury a long time ago, in a civil case. After 4 days it was obvious to me that the person suing her landlord had proven her case. On the 4th day we, the jury, were told that the parties had agreed to a settlement. The lawyers for both sides came in and asked how we were leaning. Everyone agreed in the lady’s favor. When they asked us how much in damages we would have awarded her. I took in to consideration her actual loss and said that somewhere around $84-85,000 was appropriate. Every other juror gave figures between $1,000,000 – $15,000,000.
I don’t agree. Getting hit by a coca-cola truck shouldn’t be on the same level as winning the lottery.

By: Whatiswrongwithpeopletoday

Whatiswrongwithpeopletoday — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 17:19:06 +0000

It’s funny how people can make these comments on the dollar amount and not have any concern for the women that was hit by this driver, she can’t work and provide for herself and not to mention her pain and the effects it has had on her family I guess if she had died then maybe it would be different….this 10 million was awarded for punishment. Coke told there employees that they know that talking on the phone and driving is a legal liability but they did not care as long as they were making money for the company they would deal with the issues as they arise, and driving with someone in the car is different because you have 2 sets of eyes on the road so what the driver doesn’t see the passenger will but when you are on the phone 37% of your brain is into the conversation not on the road it has been proven it is the same as driving drunk. So my concern is for the lady whose life has changed just because a company is more concerned about making money then making sure we are safe on our roads she will have to have more surgeries and deal with this injury for the rest of her life.

By: mimidunn

mimidunn — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 15:28:38 +0000

It is my understanding that hands free is legal. Paying the bills and compensation might have been justified but $22M is way over the top. There are not enough details in the article to make a assessment of the situation.

By: Guest

Guest — Thu, 31 May 2012 21:32:12 +0000

This is ridiculous. Companies might as well require employees to travel on their own instead of carpooling as the passenger carrying on a conversation with them could be a “distraction”.