Robin Frazer Clark. (Photo: John Disney/ALM)

A pre-suit settlement netted $3.75 million for a woman seriously injured when a landscaping truck crossed the center line on a Milton roadway and hit her vehicle head-on.

According to her attorney, Robin Frazer Clark, a passenger in the Crabapple Turf Management truck told a police officer the driver was watching a video on his co-worker's phone just before the crash.

"There was no indication that he ever even attempted to get back in his lane or put on his brakes," Clark said.

The impact drove the engine of the Ford Flex into the passenger compartment, crushing Sandra Kramer's legs and hips.

"She was in a medically induced coma for two weeks, and two years later she still has to use a walker," Clark said.

Kramer's husband, Chuck Brooks, a passenger in the SUV, was also injured but less seriously.

Crabapple carried a $10 million Selective Insurance policy and was represented by Jason Darnielle of Gower Wooten & Darneille.

He did not respond to a request for comment, but Clark hailed Darnielle as a "wonderful lawyer" who went out of his way to get the settlement finalized.

According to Clark and a pre-mediation account of the case, the 2018 incident happened on Birmingham Road. The Crabapple driver, Benjamin Bailey, "was looking down at a video being played on the cellphone of his passenger and co-employee" Brian Perez at the time of the wreck.

Bailey told an investigating officer a floor mat had "bunched up under the brake pedal" and that he was reaching down to try to fix it when he failed to follow the curve of the road, but Perez revealed that they had been watching a video.

Bailey was charged with failure to maintain lane.

Kramer's medical bills totaled more than $433,000, and she has been unable to drive ever since the crash, Clark said.

Kramer, now 70, had served as the driver for her husband, who is visually impaired but able to work as a draftsman at an engineering firm. He now uses Lyft and Uber to go to work and has incurred thousands of dollars paying for the ride-sharing service. The couple relies on Instacart for groceries.

"It's been so hard for them," Clark said.

A November mediation before Greg Parent with Miles Mediation failed to yield any immediate results, Clark said, but Parent "kept working with us."

After the failed mediation, Clark called in a construction company to estimate what it would cost to refurbish Kramer's home so that it would be accessible for her walker and wheelchair, which came to about $175,000.

She also had an estimate from Kramer's orthopedic surgeon stating that, in addition to all the other medical care she's already had, she will need knee replacement surgery in the future.

The settlement was agreed to in late February but was only finalized last week, Clark said.

"The case is closed, everything's been disbursed," she said.