Articles

Injured motorcyclist settles lawsuit
THE RICHMOND NEWS LEADER  Wednesday, December 13, 1989

A motorcyclist who struck a car on Jefferson Davis Highway last year has settled a lawsuit against the driver of the car for $950,000.

Trial of the case was to have begun yesterday in Richmond Circuit Court, but the parties reached an agreement late last week, said Jay Tronfeld, lawyer for Ernest King.

King, 32, was heading south on Jefferson Davis Highway near Dana Street going home from work on Sept. 29, 1988, when the motorist, Jerry Finn, crossed the highway from a parking lot on the west side of the street.

King’s motorcycle struck the car and he was thrown against a utility pole, Tronfeld said.

King suffered numerous broken bones, including a broken wrist that will prevent him from returning to his work as an industrial painter.

He has incurred $75,000 in medical bills and will require further treatment, Tronfeld said.

Tronfeld said settlement of the case was delayed because of a dispute over Finn’s insurance coverage.  Finn maintained a basic personal automobile liability policy that provided $100,000 in coverage.

He obtained an excess insurance policy that provided $1 million in coverage through his business, Tronfeld said.

However, the excess policy required basic insurance of $500,000 before the excess insurance policy took effect.

The settlement was reached after the insurer for the insurance agency that issued the excess policy agreed to contribute to it, Tronfeld said.

Finn contended that the agency was at fault because it left a gap between the coverage provided by the basic insurance and the excess policy.

Insurance maintained by Finn or the insurance agency will pay the entire amount of the settlement.