Verdicts & Settlements

Church van rollover wreck results in settlements with manufacturer, owner, paving company and SCDOT

$1,829,583 settlement, plus confidential sum

On April 11, 2003, Geraldine Smith, Betty R. Collier and Bessie I. Bonds were passengers in a 1997 Ford van owned by Trinity AME Zion Church and operated by another individual. The van was traveling eastbound on S.C. Route 55 in York County when the driver drifted off the side of the roadway, causing the vehicle to run off the roadway on the left and ultimately overturn and crash. As a result of the collision, Smith, who was seated in the third-row bench on the driver's side, was partially ejected from the vehicle.

Principal injuries (in order of severity): Smith: Death. Collier: A C1 burst fracture (vertebra), right occipital blow-out fracture, a broken right arm (two places), facial lacerations with scarring and a 10 percent impairment to the back. Bonds: Multi-trauma, traumatic brain injury, facial fractures, C5-C6 disk protrusion, forehead laceration and open right femur fracture.

Special damages: Estate of Smith: $7,289 medical expenses and $5,831 funeral expenses. Collier: $34,751 medical expenses. Bonds: $247,000 medical expenses and $416,000 lost wages and benefits.

Tried or settled: Settled

County where tried or settled: York

Case name and number: Federal: Smith, Collier and Bonds v. Ford Motor Co., Inc., Civil Action No. 06-CV-023202 CMC. State: Smith v. S.C. Dept. of Transportation and Trinity AME Zion Church, Civil Action No. 05-CP-46-789; Collier v. S.C. Dept. of Transportation, Trinity AME Zion Church and Boggs Paving, Inc., Civil Action No. 05-CP-46-790; Bonds v. S.C. Dept. of Transportation, Trinity AME Zion Church and Boggs Paving, Inc., Civil Action No. 05-CP-46-791.

Date concluded: Feb. 12, 2007

Name of judge: Federal: Hon. Cameron M. Currie. State: Hon. John C. Hayes.

Amount: Smith: $610,833 plus confidential settlement with Ford. Collier: $190,000 plus confidential settlement with Ford. Bonds: $1,028,750 plus confidential settlement with Ford.

Insurance carriers: Church Mutual, S.C. State Insurance Reserve Fund, Zurich America Insurance Co. and State Auto.

Expert witnesses & areas of expertise: Peter Parsonson, roadway design, construction and maintenance; George Rivers, accident reconstruction.

Attorneys for plaintiffs: Estate of Smith: Thomas A. Killoren Jr., Harrison, White Smith & Coggins, P.C., of Spartanburg. Collier and Bonds: S. Brook Fowler, Carter, Smith Merriam, Rogers & Traxler, of Greenville.

Other useful info: A declaratory judgment action was filed by the plaintiffs, and the court held in Smith v. Church Mut. Ins. Co., 375 F.Supp.2d 451 (D.S.C. 2005), that under the terms of the policy, UIM coverage was triggered only after liability bonds or policies had been exhausted by payments of judgments or settlements. The insurer claimed that $1 million in liability coverage was available because the driver could be sued individually for gross negligence or recklessness under S.C. Code Ann. Sect. 33-56-180(A). The court found that liability coverage was capped at $600,000 pursuant to the statute, unless the driver was properly joined as a party defendant and proven to have acted in a reckless, willful or grossly negligent manner. If either of the latter failed to occur, the members could obtain UIM coverage from the insured if the damages recovered against the church exceeded $600,000. However, the insurer was entitled to a setoff for the amount of the liability coverage not exhausted under the statutory cap. The policy was reformed to delete the requirement that the $1 million liability limits of the policy had to be exhausted before UIM coverage was available. In its place, Sect. 38-77-160 was inserted in its entirety.

Submitted by: Thomas A. Killoren Jr. and S. Brook Fowler

Source: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly (http://www.sclawyersweekly.com/)