The case of the “ghost driver” In July 2017, Charles Franks filed suit against Liberty County Mutual Insurance Company seeking benefits under his automobile policy. The petition alleged: A collision occurred on August 21, 2016, in Prairie View, Texas. At the time of the collision, Franks was traveling west on U.S. Highway 290 Business in a safe, reasonable, and lawful manner. Suddenly, an unknown white vehicle traveling at a high
Court Decisions
A case of aggravation On August 3, 2015, while stopped in traffic on I-10 in East Baton Rouge Parish, Dunwoodie McDuffie’s Ford F-150 was rear-ended by a Nissan Xterra SUV driven by Jacob Mullins and insured by State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. On July 15, 2016, McDuffie and his wife, Cheryl McDuffie, filed suit against Mullins and State Farm for injuries that McDuffie allegedly sustained in the accident. The
Parsing a three-letter word Paul Buchanan and Egbert Wilkinson were friends and co-workers. On August 18, 2015, Buchanan purchased a 1994 Ford F-350. Egbert asked Buchanan if he could “look at” the truck, and Buchanan agreed. According to Buchanan, Wilkinson and his wife, Barbara, were not going to test drive the truck but only wanted to look at it. On September 30, 2015, Egbert and Barbara went to Buchanan’s house
The perils of parking Fisherman’s Galley Restaurant is located in Many, Louisiana, on LA Highway 6. On April 3, 2016, Jackie Savell was exiting the restaurant in his van. At the same time, Mary Sepulvado was heading west on Highway 6. As Savell eased his way out onto the highway to make a left turn, Sepulvado’s car collided with Savell’s van. Sepulvado alleged that she suffered severe injuries as a
You can’t stack that! On May 22, 2014, Kristina Knight applied for an automobile insurance policy with Nationwide Insurance Company of America and completed an endorsement that listed Daniel Knight as an individual excluded from coverage under the policy. The excluded driver endorsement stated: “With this endorsement, all coverages in your policy are not in effect while Danny Knight is operating any motor vehicle.” Knight signed this page, on which
