$12M Finally Being Paid, 2 Years after Verdict in Boy’s Crash Death

The parents of a deceased 9-year-old Florida boy is finally going to receive the $12 million a jury awarded following a 2013 trial, after two years of delays. The boy was killed by a car that struck him in January 2011 while he was on bicycle ride with his father.

It’s about time that this verdict award has finally been paid to his grieving family.

The child, Andrew Connor Curtis, died when a car coming out of a condominium community in Jupiter, Fla., struck him after its elderly driver could not see him riding his bicycle on the other side of some high hedges that blocked the driver’s view of the sidewalk where the boy was riding on the sidewalk behind his father, according to an Oct. 7 story in The Palm Beach Post.

Two years later, in March 2013, a Palm Beach County jury awarded the parents $12 million due to the boy’s death, ruling that negligent hedge-trimming by a Jupiter condominium association contributed to the crash.

The Villas on the Green condo association and its property management company, MMI of the Palm Beaches, appealed the verdict, which was recently upheld, and its insurers have now agreed to pay the money to the family, the story reported.

The hedges at the condo entrance where the crash occurred were about 56 inches high, which is about twice the 30-inch limit allowed by Jupiter’s ordinances, the story reported, and a stop sign that stood almost four feet lower than required by the Florida Department of Transportation. The family’s attorneys argued that had the hedges been trimmed to code and the sign been properly visible that the crash and boy’s death might not have occurred and that the property was negligent for allowing those conditions to exist.

The condo association was found 30 percent responsible for the boy’s death by the jury, while the property managers were found to be 60 percent responsible, the story reported. The driver of the car that struck the boy, Helen Bygel, who was 83 at the time of the crash, was found to be 10 percent to blame, according to the report. The boy’s parents settled with Bygel for $100,000, which was the limit of her insurance coverage.

These kinds of tragic legal cases occur every day when innocent victims are severely hurt or killed in vehicle crashes through no fault of their own due to the actions, inattentiveness or indifference of others. That’s why it is critical to have a legal team on your side that uncovers every fact to bolster your case and maximize your damage award.

We here at MyPhillyLawyer stand ready to assist you with your legal case if you or a loved one is ever seriously injured in a vehicle incident or accident anywhere in the United States. We represent the families of victims who die in such tragedies as well, to ensure that their families receive every penny of damages that they are eligible to receive.

Call MyPhillyLawyer at 215-227-2727 or toll-free at 1-(866) 352-4572 anytime and our experienced, compassionate, aggressive team of attorneys and support staff will be there for you and your family every step of the way as we manage your case through the legal system.

When Winning Matters Most, Call MyPhillyLawyer.