Anne Belanger inherited a case less than 2 weeks before trial in December, 2006. The case involved a vehicle/bicycle accident in Glenview, Illinois. The defendant and other vehicles had passed the slower moving cyclist approximately one mile before the accident site. At that time, the cyclist was properly riding in the lane of travel. Subsequently, the defendant was stopped in traffic waiting to make a righthand turn into a local business parking lot. As she made the turn, she made contact with the cyclist, who had managed to advance through traffic by using the shoulder of the road, which was not a proper lane of travel.
Defendant admitted that she did not check her mirrors prior to beginning her turn into the parking lot. Anne argued that her client never expected anyone to be approaching on the shoulder of the road. The plaintiff struck the passenger side right quarter panel of the defendant's vehicle.
The plaintiff claimed soft tissue neck, back, and knee injuries and also sustained a significant scar on her chin with dental injuries requiring replacement of several teeth. Over Anne's objections, the judge admitted into evidence the plaintiff's dentist's opinion that she suffered from traumatic TMJ. The plaintiff had had no treatment for TMJ and had more than a one-year gap between dental visits. Anne was successful in having plaintiff's wage loss claim barred due to her failure to produce tax returns.
Anne defended this claim based on the principle that bicycles on the roadway are expected to obey the rules of the road and that the cyclist should have waited in line with the other stopped vehicles. Plaintiff asked for $175,000 and the jury, while admitting that everyone knows bicyclists often travel on road shoulders, listened to our persuasive arguments, followed the law, and rendered a not guilty verdict.
