Woman Left Paralyzed After Accident Sues Uber, Driver and Honda for Negligence
A 24-year-old college student is suing ride-sharing company Uber, her Uber driver, and the owner of the uninsured Honda Odyssey van he was driving, alleging that their negligence caused her to be paralyzed after an accident with another driver. The personal injury lawsuit also names Honda.
The case is an example of how victims of catastrophic personal injury can take legal action against multiple parties they believe are responsible.
Lawsuit Seeks Compensation for Woman Paralyzed After Accident in Uber
Oklahoma State University student Sarah Milburn was visiting Dallas, Texas with friends in 2015 when they obtained an Uber at 1 a.m. to avoid drinking and driving or walking around intoxicated, believing it was the safe, responsible thing to do.
Milburn says Uber driver Arian Yusufzai, 39, arrived in a Honda Odyssey and she climbed in to the third row and put on her seat belt. However, the seat belt failed to protect her when Yusufzai ran a red light and was struck by a Ford F-150 pickup truck. The impact flipped the van upside down and left Milburn quadriplegic. She is now paralyzed from the mid-chest down due to a broken spinal column. No one else was injured.
Despite running the red light, Yusufzai was not charged with causing the accident. Dallas police instead charged the driver of the pickup truck.
Milburn’s personal injury lawsuit, filed in late December 2016, alleges that Honda and Uber “failed to provide [Milburn] with the safety she reasonably expected, and as a result, she was catastrophically injured and faces a lifetime of physical impairment and challenges.”
The catastrophic personal injury lawsuit also asserts that Uber should have stricter guidelines about who drives vehicles under the Uber name.
According to the lawsuit, the owner of the van being driven by Yusufzai was uninsured. Both men were arrested in 2014 on misdemeanor charges involving a “gambling den” and drug possession.
Uber should have known about these arrests and “cared about them,” the lawsuit says, given that Uber requires background checks for drivers. Uber drivers must have, among other things, a clean criminal background with no felonies or misdemeanors involving drugs, theft or violence.
Legal Help for Victims Paralyzed After Accident
Being paralyzed after an accident has the potential to turn your life upside down and leave you with significant medical expenses, pain and suffering, and other life-long difficulties. It often means a much different life for the victim than what he or she was used to before the accident.
Given the many ways that an incident like this can financially, emotionally, and physically shape the life of someone injured, personal injury law allows victims in this situation to file a legal claim against the responsible parties.
In car accidents involving ride-sharing companies, there may be multiple parties named in the personal injury lawsuit for a victim paralyzed after an accident.
If you were seriously injured due to the negligence or reckless actions of another person or company, you may have a legal claim. No victim should have to find themselves in the situation of attempting to pay for and cope with the many different impacts of a serious personal injury such as being paralyzed after an accident.
The lawyers at Bradley/Grombacher understand the devastation that follows a catastrophic injury and they will work tirelessly on your behalf to help you get the maximum amount of injury compensation. Fill out the form on this page for a FREE case evaluation.
