Top Car Accident Personal Injury Recoveries Confirmed Paid
Personal injury results for car accident cases where the record shows the money was paid, or the defendant is an insurer or institution that pays, ranked by amount.
- $30 millionSettlementPaidTX
$30 Million Settlement for Odessa Woman After Hunt Oil Employee Hit Her Head-On While Impaired
Barbara Dalby, an Odessa proposal specialist and mother of three, secured a $30 million settlement against Hunt Oil after one of the company's intoxicated employees struck her head-on in 2019, leaving her with permanent spinal injuries and unable to work.
After trial: Paid by Hunt Oil's insurer.
Aldous Law and Goudarzi & Young, L.L.P.2024 · 116th District Court, Dallas County, TXRead the full story → - $25 millionVerdictReduced from $135 millionPaidNJ
$135 Million Verdict for Girl Paralyzed by Drunk Fan Served at Giants Stadium
A Bergen County jury ordered stadium concessionaire Aramark and drunk driver Daniel Lanzaro to pay roughly $135 million after Lanzaro, served beer at Giants Stadium despite visible intoxication, crashed into the Verni family's car and left their two-year-old daughter paralyzed from the neck down. The verdict was reversed on appeal in 2006, and the case settled in 2008 for $25 million in cash and annuities.
After trial: The New Jersey Appellate Division reversed the verdict in August 2006. On remand the case settled in 2008 for $25 million in cash and annuities.
Mazie Slater Katz & Freeman, LLC2005 · Superior Court of New Jersey, Bergen CountyRead the full story → - $20 millionReduced from $23.9 millionPaidDC
$20 Million Judgment Against U.S. for Driver Paralyzed When Smithsonian Bus Ran Red Light
On June 14, 1998, a Smithsonian Institution bus ran a red light in Washington, D.C. and hit the car of an 18-year-old driver, causing a severe brain injury, paralysis on his left side and lasting wheelchair dependence. After separate bench trials on liability and damages, a federal judge found damages of about $23.9 million on September 10, 2003 and entered judgment against the United States for $20 million, the most the Federal Tort Claims Act allowed on his administrative claim. The government appealed, then agreed to dismiss the appeal in December 2004 after a satisfaction of judgment was filed.
After trial: The court's damages findings totaled about $23.9 million, and the judgment was held to $20 million because the Federal Tort Claims Act limits recovery to the amount of the administrative claim. The government appealed to the D.C.
Stein Mitchell Beato & Missner LLP2003 · U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, WashingtonRead the full story → - $18.3 millionVerdictPaidNY
$18.3 Million Award for Staten Island Ferry Crash Victim as Judge Rejects Race-Based Life Tables
In October 2003, James McMillan was one of roughly 1,500 passengers on the Staten Island Ferry Andrew J. Barberi when it hit a maintenance pier at close to full speed after its solo pilot blacked out, a crash that killed 11 people and left McMillan a quadriplegic. Liability was already settled by the time his case reached trial, so Judge Jack B. Weinstein tried damages in the Eastern District of New York with an advisory jury, with Torgan & Cooper, P.C. (now Torgan Cooper + Aaron) representing McMillan. The City argued his future medical costs should be figured on race-based life expectancy statistics predicting a shorter life for a Black claimant; Weinstein refused, in the first federal ruling to hold that such statistics cannot be used to calculate damages. His own findings of fact, amended twice, fixed the award at $18.3 million, the largest of the cases brought against the City over the crash, and the City paid it.
After trial: Paid. Judge Weinstein fixed the $18.3 million award in findings of fact amended in November and December 2008, after an advisory jury.
Torgan Cooper + Aaron, P.C.2008 · U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Brooklyn, NYRead the full story → - $3.8 millionVerdictPaidDC
$3.8 Million D.C. Jury Verdict for IT Security Professional with Brain Injury in Rear-End Crash
In 2012 a McKesson Corporation employee rear-ended Roger Tovar's stopped car, leaving the information technology security professional with a traumatic brain injury that ended his career. A D.C. Superior Court jury awarded $500,000 for bodily injury and $3,297,573 in lost wages in June 2018. McKesson appealed and then settled for the full jury award.
After trial: McKesson appealed, then settled through the court's mediation program for the full jury award, and the Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal. We have not seen the settlement terms beyond that the amount matched the verdict.
Regan Zambri Long Personal Injury Lawyers2018 · Superior Court of the District of ColumbiaRead the full story → - $2 millionPaidNC
Federal Court Holds Excess Insurer Must Cover $2 Million for Mother and Daughters Hurt in Head-On Truck Crash
A mother and her two teenage daughters were seriously hurt in an October 2018 head-on crash on North Carolina Highway 49 with a company truck driven by an unlicensed man. After the injury claims were resolved by agreement, a federal court held that the construction company's commercial excess policy covered the accident and that interest was owed on top. The Fourth Circuit affirmed in August 2025, and the family's total recovery reached $2,861,458.
After trial: Harford Mutual appealed, and the Fourth Circuit affirmed on both coverage and interest on August 8, 2025. North Carolina Lawyers Weekly reports a total recovery of $2,861,458 including interest and the underlying auto coverage.
Law Offices of James Scott Farrin2023 · U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, GreensboroRead the full story → - $1.58 millionVerdictPaidLA
Jefferson Parish Jury Awards $1.58 Million After Distracted-Driving Rear-End Crash
A Jefferson Parish jury awarded Jasmine Raymond $1,582,399.87 after a company truck driver, distracted by his phone's GPS, rear-ended her on Interstate 10 in 2014 and drove her car into the vehicle ahead, sandwiching it between the two. The 24-year-old plaintiff had no prior back or neck problems before the crash and went through numerous procedures and surgeries over the next two years, ending with an August 2016 diagnosis of a recurrent disc herniation at L4-5 with right leg radiculopathy and a treating physician's opinion that she would need two lumbar fusion surgeries over her lifetime. After both sides rested, the judge granted a directed verdict on liability, so the twelve jurors decided only medical causation and the size of the award. The defendants appealed on evidentiary and damages grounds but withdrew the appeal the day before oral argument, and the Louisiana Fifth Circuit dismissed it without ruling, leaving the full verdict intact.
After trial: Appeal dismissed. The defendants appealed the October 11, 2016 judgment, then moved to dismiss their own appeal on September 6, 2017, and the Fifth Circuit granted it on September 8, 2017 without reaching the merits.
- $1.5 millionVerdictPaidNY
72-Year-Old Passenger Thrown From MTA Bus Wins $1.5 Million Verdict
A 72-year-old woman was thrown to the floor of a Queens city bus in April 2012 when the driver pulled away from the curb before she reached her seat, tearing the menisci in her knee and causing spinal and post-concussive injuries. A Supreme Court, Queens County jury found MTA Bus Co. negligent and awarded her $1,500,000 in past and future pain and suffering. The Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed both the liability finding and the damages award in full in 2018. Robert Miklos of Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C. represented her at trial and on appeal.
After trial: Affirmed. The Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed the $1,500,000 judgment in full on July 11, 2018, and no further appeal has been reported.
Silberstein & Miklos2015 · Supreme Court, Queens County, NY; affirmed, Appellate Division, Second Department (2018)Read the full story → - $1.25 millionSettlementPaidKS
Kansas Driver Settles Stop Sign Failure to Yield Crash for $1.25 Million
A 16-year-old driver stopped at a stop sign on Eisenhower Road in Leavenworth County, Kansas, then pulled into the path of a woman driving 55 mph on the right-of-way road, causing a July 2022 collision. She suffered a concussion, and daily headaches, dizziness, balance deficits and diminished concentration persisted for months despite a negative scan taken the day of the crash, which also exacerbated orthopedic injuries from a prior accident. The suit named the teen driver for failing to yield and the driver's mother for negligent supervision and training. A demand for the defendant's policy limits was made during litigation and accepted, and the case settled in September 2024 for $1.25 million without reaching trial.
After trial: Settlement of $1.25 million reached in September 2024, a recovery of the defendant's automobile policy limits after a policy-limits demand was accepted. The case settled before trial, so there was no appeal.
- $517,350VerdictReduced from $4.5 millionPaidNJ
$4.5 Million Verdict for Passenger With Five Herniated Discs, Limited to $517,350 by Underinsured Policy
Jennifer Burden was a passenger in her sister's car when it was struck by another driver on November 19, 2017, leaving her with herniated discs at five levels of her neck and lower back, foot drop, and headaches. After the at-fault driver's policy was exhausted by settlement, her own carrier, Mid-Century Insurance (Farmers), refused a $300,000 arbitration award and offered $25,000 on her $400,000 underinsured-motorist claim. An Essex County jury in April 2024 found her damages were $4,500,000. The court molded the verdict to $517,350.44, the policy limit plus fees, costs and interest, and the Appellate Division in March 2026 affirmed the dismissal of her bad-faith claim against the insurer.
After trial: The jury verdict was molded to $517,350.44 because the only defendant at trial was the plaintiffs' own underinsured-motorist carrier and the policy limit was $400,000; the judgment is insurer-paid by its nature. The plaintiffs' appeal concerned only the dismissed bad-faith and Insurance Fair Conduct Act claims, which the Appellate Division affirmed on March 13, 2026 (A-0440-24).
Blume Forte Fried Zerres & Molinari, P.C.2024 · Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Essex County, NewarkRead the full story →
All car accidents verdicts and settlements
243 results, largest first
On December 7, 2021, a Nueces County jury in Corpus Christi returned $1.04 billion in actual damages and $300 billion in exemplary damages, about $301.04 billion in total, against Beer Belly's Sports Bar and its owner for overserving a driver who killed Tamra Kay Kindred, 59, and her 16-year-old granddaughter in a 2017 crash. It was reported as the largest jury verdict ever recorded, and it was built to be symbolic: the bar had closed in 2019, Texas does not require bars to carry liquor liability insurance, and the family and its lawyers said openly that they expected to recover nothing and sought the number as a public statement against drunk driving. John Flood of Flood Trial Lawyers was lead counsel, with Sico, Hoelscher & Harris LLP as co-counsel; Craig Sico delivered the closing argument that asked jurors to decide how loudly their voice would be heard.
An Oakland County jury awarded $896.5 million to a young boy who was struck by a prototype test car during a student field trip at a Continental test track, reported as the largest verdict in Michigan history. The award is pre-appeal: post-trial motions are pending, Continental never made a settlement offer, and the amount could still be reduced.
A Bexar County jury awarded roughly $831 million to Blas Mendez Jr., a longtime Seguin ISD special education behavior specialist left partially paralyzed after his motorcycle hit wreckage left in the road by an 18-year-old drunk driver who had been served at Koozies Icehouse & Grill in New Braunfels. Todd A. Hunter of Hunter Trial Law tried the dram shop case with E. Chevo Pastrano and Ginna G. Pastrano of The Pastrano Law Firm. The award was reported as the largest verdict ever returned by a San Antonio jury, and the bar had already closed by the time it came in, so the family is not expected to collect most, if any, of it.
A Harris County jury awarded Mary Johnson $557 million against Union Pacific for a 2016 Houston train strike that cost her a leg, several fingers, and left her with a brain injury, a figure the trial court later cut and an appeals court reversed for a new trial.
An Ector County jury awarded $262.5 million to Isaac Sanchez, left quadriplegic when a drunk driver who had been served 19 drinks at Linx Bar and Grill rear-ended his motorcycle at a North Odessa intersection in June 2021.
On October 18, 2020 Ryann Early, drunk and doing about 79 mph in a 40 zone, crossed into oncoming traffic on Albert S. White Drive in Whitestown and hit Sherry Schnee head-on. She broke her neck and is quadriplegic. He went to prison. On January 11, 2024 a Boone County jury awarded her $84,000,000 and her husband $75,000,000. Early is an individual with no insurer identified, and his own lawyer said afterward he wished there were actual dollars behind the number.
A Morgan & Morgan trial team won a $120 million Alachua County verdict for Jacob Rodgers, paralyzed at 20 when a Gainesville Regional Utilities driver ran a stop sign and broadsided the pickup he was riding in. After appeals and remittitur cut the judgment to $18.3 million, the case settled for $11 million, most of it paid through a Florida legislative claims bill that became law in 2025.
A Clark County jury awarded Timothy Kuhn $114 million after USAA spent years stonewalling his claim from a 2018 rear-end collision it had originally conceded was not his fault.
A Travis County jury found a Wings 'N More restaurant liable for overserving a drunk driver who crashed into a family's car, awarding $112.9 million after a six-year-old girl suffered a traumatic brain injury, cardiac arrest, and the loss of vision in one eye.
A Cook County jury found the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority negligent for a 2016 construction zone crash on I-90 that killed one limousine passenger and left Rob Rosá paralyzed from the neck down, awarding Rosá and his spouse just over $104 million on October 9, 2025.
A Clark County jury awarded $101 million against Progressive, $1 million compensatory and $100 million punitive, after the insurer delayed paying Hal Goldblatt's medical bills for months following a 2022 crosswalk collision that caused a traumatic brain injury.
A Nassau County jury awarded $96,906,004 to a woman who suffered catastrophic brain injuries at age 15 at an intersection the county had been warned about for years, making it the second-largest verdict in Nassau County history.
A Miami-Dade jury returned a $95 million verdict, among the largest motor-vehicle awards in the history of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, for the family of a young woman killed and her brother catastrophically injured when a drunk driver traveled the wrong way on I-95 in December 2015 after being overserved at a Miami bar.
A Manhattan jury awarded $85 million to a writer and former New York Times columnist who was severely injured by a double-decker sightseeing bus while lawfully crossing the street.
Francisco Briones, 21, was turning left on a green light on his way to a 5 a.m. warehouse shift in Oxnard on March 23, 2013, when Christopher Zink, drunk at 0.14 percent, awake for 24 hours and asleep at the wheel, ran a red light at about 50 mph and hit him. Briones' C4-5 vertebrae ruptured and he was paralyzed from the neck down. Zink pleaded guilty to felony DUI causing injury and went to prison for seven years; his insurer, Nationwide, had refused a timely policy-limits demand. On January 22, 2016, a Ventura County jury found Zink 100 percent at fault, found malice, and awarded $125,168,202, half of it punitive damages. The court rejected Zink's Proposition 213 motion to strip the pain-and-suffering award but reduced the judgment post-trial to about $85 million.
A St. Charles County jury awarded $75 million, including $25 million in punitive damages, to the parents of Krystofer Batsell, a 21-year-old killed when a driver fleeing police at more than 100 mph crashed into his car. The defendant is serving a 15-year prison sentence for second-degree murder, and the judgment is effectively uncollectable.
A Boone County jury found that Eaton Asphalt's improper repaving of Richwood Road created the edge drop-off that sent a flatbed truck into Amy Skiba's car, and awarded her three children $74 million.
On September 28, 2017, a Manhattan jury awarded Morgan Wang $71 million against Neil Sexton, the driver who fell asleep at the wheel on state Route 79 in August 2012 on the way to Cornell University. Wang, a passenger, suffered a fractured back and a spinal cord injury. The award was $5 million for past pain and suffering, $6 million for future pain and suffering and $60 million for future medical care.
A Platte County jury returned a record $70 million verdict after an eight-year-old boy died and his six-year-old sister was seriously injured when a distracted driver rear-ended their grandparents' car in a highway construction zone.
The City of Seattle and its five insurers paid $65.75 million to Brooke Taylor, a 38-year-old Susman Godfrey partner who suffered a catastrophic traumatic brain injury when a Seattle Fire Department aid unit went through a red light at Fourth Avenue and Seneca Street in April 2016 and struck her Porsche, spinning it into a signal box and a tree. Todd Gardner of Swanson Gardner Meyers negotiated the settlement, approved in King County Superior Court in late December 2018 and reported as the largest personal injury settlement in city history and likely the largest in Washington state.
Clifford Law Offices secured a $60 million settlement for Sarah Grasser, 31, left paraplegic when another driver swerved to avoid a deep pothole in an I-55 work zone and struck her car, rolling it into a ditch.
On Halloween night 2021 Season Dow's car ran out of gas on Interstate 15 in Orem and she stopped on the shoulder with her hazard lights on. Kesley Pope, 22, driving her father's uninsured truck at about twice the legal blood alcohol limit, drove straight into it. Season Dow died at the scene and her 16-year-old son died in hospital. Pope is in prison. In June 2026, after a two-day civil trial, Judge Derek Pullan ordered her to pay the family $60,000,000.
A Bexar County jury returned a $59.8 million verdict, later converted to a $60.09 million judgment, for 23-year-old Armando Guerrero III after a drunk driver ran a red light at nearly twice the posted speed limit on Southwest Military Drive.
A Middlesex Superior Court jury awarded $56 million on July 22, 2026 to Malcolm Carnwath, a 78-year-old retired realtor from Newburyport, Massachusetts. An Amazon delivery driver fell asleep and crossed the center line in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on Nov. 16, 2024, causing a head-on crash. Mr. Carnwath suffered a cardiac arrest, multiple strokes with permanent brain injury, and a below-knee amputation of his left leg. Amazon accepted liability days before the two-day damages trial.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.