Garfield caused car accident & jury awards plaintiff 473K
It seems that Garfield, the lazy, food loving, cat who hates Mondays and diets even more than humans is in trouble. The iconic comic caricature was found responsible for seriously injuring a female pedestrian in 2006, when she was hit by a truck in an accident.
The estate of a fifty-two year old Hamilton N.J. woman has filed the lawsuit after she was struck by car in 2006 and severely wounded. A jury awarded the estate of the woman $378,000 in damages this week. They concluded that the Garfield car accident was a result of the Garfield stuffed animal hanging from a rear view mirror and blocking the vision of the driver. The personal injury attorney of the woman stated that “the stuffed animal was a distraction, an obstruction, in violation of law requiring unobstructed windshield.”
As said above, the estate of the woman was awarded $378,000.00 for the injuries she sustained in the severe crash. A jury also awarded $95,000.00 to her loving husband, who took care of her after the car accident while she was disabled. A personal injury lawyer represented both the now deceased Hamilton woman, and her husband. The trial was two weeks in length.
The jury found that the Garfield stuffed animal that was hanging from the rear view mirror in this pedestrian crash lead to the accident. They concluded that the driver of the 1998 black Ford Mustang was negligent when operating his vehicle at the time of the crash. The defendant was driving eastbound on Nottingham Way in the left lane and made a lane change into the right lane, where his car hit Ellen Henkle as she was crossing.
According to NJ.com the attorney of the defendant tried to kick that theory to the curb and stated that the driver checked his rear view and side mirror, then looked over his shoulder before making the lane change, and did not see the plaintiff soon enough to stop when he returned his vision forward.