Motor Vehicle

Jury awards driver for alleged neck, back and hip injuries

A jury awarded $12,000 to a driver who claimed neck, back and hip injuries in a rear-ender. Madison Singleton was driving a pickup truck in Texarkana when a dump truck driven by Terry Bowman hit him. He stipulated to liability. Singleton claimed that the accident caused herniated cervical discs; radiating left (nondominant) arm pain; lumbar sprains and strains; aggravation of pre-existing avascular necrosis in his hip; and an abdominal hernia. The defense neurosurgery expert said the herniations in an MRI were unrelated to the accident and that they resulted from the natural progression of degenerative conditions, or possibly from some unknown intervening cause. Because of Singleton's prior hip condition, the joint would have deteriorated and would have needed replacing regardless of the accident, defense counsel argued.