$400,000 Settlement in a Crenshaw County, Alabama Car Accident Case
Publish Date : 02 November 2026
Note: We have changed our client’s name in this case study to protect her privacy.
Michelle was in her early forties when a driver operating a truck for his employer turned left across her lane on a rural Alabama road. The collision caused fractures at C5 and C6 and traumatically closed off her right vertebral artery, creating a risk of stroke. She spent months in a hard cervical collar trying conservative treatment before ultimately undergoing cervical fusion surgery. Before Michelle hired Caldwell Wenzel and Asthana Personal Injury Lawyers, she had received no settlement offer. Her case ultimately resolved for $400,000.
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Strong Liability and a Serious Vertebral Artery Injury
In December 2024, Michelle was driving with the right of way on a two-lane rural Alabama road when an oncoming driver attempted to turn left into a private driveway directly across her path.
The vehicles collided, sending Michelle’s car off the roadway and into a mailbox. Her airbags deployed, rescue crews extricated her, and she was transported by ambulance to a regional trauma center as a trauma alert.
The crash report identified the other vehicle as the primary contributing unit and listed failure to yield while turning left as the contributing circumstance. The driver was operating a company truck in the course of his employment, and his employer’s responsibility for his conduct was later stipulated.
Michelle suffered cervical fractures and a traumatic injury to an artery supplying blood to the brain. After months of conservative treatment, she ultimately required cervical fusion surgery. The case settled for $400,000.
How the Left-Turn Collision Happened
Michelle had the right of way when the company truck turned left across her lane into a private driveway.
At his deposition, the driver acknowledged that he never saw Michelle’s vehicle, agreed that she had the right of way, and could not identify anything she had done to cause the collision.
The Alabama Uniform Traffic Crash Report supported the same liability picture, identifying the truck as the primary contributing vehicle and failure to yield as the cause.
Michelle’s Neck Fractures and Vertebral Artery Injury
Michelle suffered a fracture of the right C5 lamina and fractures involving the right C6 superior articular facet and transverse process.
She also sustained a traumatic occlusion of the right vertebral artery, one of the arteries supplying blood to the back of the brain. The injury carried a risk of stroke, although she remained neurologically without symptoms from the vascular injury.
Michelle also suffered a complex facial laceration requiring layered repair with approximately two dozen sutures. Later imaging showed C5-C6 spondylolisthesis, with nerve symptoms extending into her right arm.
Her hospitalization included time in intensive care. Neurosurgeons initially recommended cervical fusion surgery, but Michelle and her family chose to try conservative treatment with a hard cervical collar. She also received aspirin therapy for the vertebral artery injury, along with physical therapy, muscle relaxants, and pain medication.
Conservative treatment ultimately was not enough. In June 2025, Michelle underwent an anterior cervical decompression and fusion at C5-C6 with permanent hardware, followed by additional physical therapy.
She continued to experience neck pain, reduced range of motion, and numbness and tingling into her right hand. A retained board-certified orthopedic surgeon concluded that the collision caused her injuries and that she may experience recurrent pain, post-traumatic arthritis, and a need for future treatment.
How Alabama’s Contributory Negligence Rule Kept Fault in Play
Liability evidence strongly favored Michelle, but Alabama’s contributory negligence rule meant even a limited defense theory had to be taken seriously.
The defense raised the possibility that Michelle had crested a hill at excessive speed. The crash report, however, estimated her speed at the posted limit, and the other driver testified that he could not identify anything she had done wrong.
The defense also had potential arguments involving Michelle’s pre-existing degenerative disc disease and facet arthritis, as well as the fact that she initially declined surgery before ultimately undergoing fusion months later.
A separate discovery issue arose when the individual defendant failed to respond to written discovery, requiring the firm to file a motion to compel.
Attorney Randall Caldwell described the liability evidence this way:
She had the right of way and he turned across it. At his deposition he admitted he never saw her, agreed she had the right of way, and when I asked him to name one thing she did wrong, he could not do it. What made this case serious was not the neck fractures by themselves — it was the artery. One of the fractures closed off a vertebral artery, and that is a stroke risk, not just a pain problem. She spent months in a hard collar trying to avoid the surgery they recommended in the hospital, and she ended up having it anyway.
Alabama is one of the last pure contributory negligence states in the country. One percent of fault on my client and she goes home with nothing. So when the defense floats the idea that she might have come over that hill a little fast, that is not a haggling point — that is the whole case. The crash report had her at the speed limit, and the man who hit her could not name one thing she did wrong. That is what made it safe to push.
C. Randall Caldwell, Jr.
Objective Imaging and Vehicle Data Supported the Claim
The medical evidence documented Michelle’s injuries from the beginning. CT and MRI imaging showed the cervical fractures and vertebral artery injury rather than leaving causation dependent solely on later reports of pain.
The firm also obtained an airbag control module download from the defendant’s truck.
A retained board-certified orthopedic surgeon separately reviewed the medical record and provided opinions on causation, future care, and the potential for recurrent pain and post-traumatic arthritis. Michelle’s treating trauma, neurosurgical, vascular, and orthopedic providers documented the acute injuries and later fusion.
From No Offer Before Representation to a $400,000 Settlement
Before Michelle hired the firm, the insurance company had made no settlement offer.
The collision occurred on December 19, 2024, and suit was filed eleven days later in the Circuit Court of Crenshaw County. Michelle underwent cervical fusion surgery in June 2025 as her medical treatment continued.
On July 17, 2026, approximately nineteen months after the collision, the case settled for $400,000.
What This Case Says About Our Approach
Our car accident lawyers in Alabama do not treat a favorable crash report as a finished liability case. Michelle’s claim shows why. Even with strong evidence of fault, the defense could still look to her medical history, treatment decisions, or Alabama’s contributory negligence rule for a way to reduce or defeat the claim.
Strong cases still get built carefully.
The crash report favored Michelle, but the driver’s deposition, medical imaging, and vehicle data gave the claim support beyond a single police finding.
The medical story has to be allowed to develop.
Michelle initially tried to avoid surgery. Months later, she required the fusion anyway. Following that progression mattered more than forcing an early valuation.
Potential weaknesses are addressed, not hidden.
Degenerative changes and her initial decision against surgery were part of the record, so the case had to explain them rather than work around them.
Attention stays on the issues that can actually change the outcome.
Employer responsibility was stipulated, allowing the case to stay focused on fault, causation, and the seriousness of Michelle’s injuries.
The result reflects an approach built around developing the complete record before asking what the case is worth.
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