POMPANO BEACH, FL — Paul F., was an experienced motorcycle rider on the morning of November 10, 2007, but he was no match for the 70-year-old French Canadian tourist, Mr. B, who blew a stop sign in his SUV at the intersection of A1A and N.E. 10th St. cutting him off as he was cruising southbound that fateful Saturday morning. Mr. B in his black SUV should have seen Paul coming, but had just gotten lost, was unfamiliar with this section of town. He simply failed to use due care operating his vehicle.

The accident happened about 11:00 am and the weather was a clear sunny day. Paul was well rested and had been operating his motorcycle for about an hour before the accident on a late morning cruise. He drove from his home near Atlantic Avenue up to Hillsboro Boulevard crossing over to the beach to look at the surf from a municipal parking lot. He then

proceeded southbound on A1A for about twenty minutes before encountering Mr. B. Traffic was light and Paul was in the right-hand lane planning to return to his house at the next causeway back to the mainland. Paul had the right-of-way when from out of nowhere Mr. B. decided to break all the rules of the road, and cut off Paul. The accident happened so fast that Paul didn’t even see the SUV coming. He glanced off of the front bumper losing control of his Yamaha

hemorrhage along with road rash and abrasions to his arms and legs that were not protected from the roadway. A good Samaritan came to his aid calling 911 and fire rescue arrived on the scene shortly thereafter. Mr. B got out of his vehicle and approached Paul apologizing for the accident in his limited use of the English language.

Z1000 motorcycle skidding down the tarmac until he came to a to a stop.

Fortunately, Paul was wearing a helmet that protected him from more serious head injuries. However, he sustained closed-head trauma and subdural

Paul was transported to North Broward Medical Center where he remained for about a week to treat his very severe road rash. Fortunately, Paul did not even break a bone and was discharged to recuperate at his home thereafter. Once the acute injuries were healed, Paul was left with a generalized feeling of weakness, bladder urgency, and extensive scaring from his road rash.

He tried to go back to work as a heavy equipment mechanic but was unable to keep up with the heavy duty nature of work and was eventually terminated by his employer. Paul could no longer do push-ups or pull ups because of his generalized weakness either.

Paul contacted the law offices of Sam Coffey seeking representation for the motorcycle accident. Suit was filed

soon thereafter. Mr. B. denied responsibility for the accident and faulted Paul, a tactic that was not unexpected claiming he was traveling 45 mph to 50 mph in a 35 mph zone. However, Florida law allows a jury to consider the fault of both parties to an accident and assign the relative percentage of fault to each party at a jury trial. During February 2010 this matter was set for a jury trial in Broward County Circuit Court. Finally, appreciating the exposure of a large jury verdict based upon his conduct Mr. B’s insurance company resolved this case for $400,000 rather than face a Broward County jury of his peers.

Paul continues to reside in Pompano Beach, Florida with his parents. Settlement proceeds were placed in a special needs trust to help Paul with his future care needs.

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