Family reaches $1.19M settlement in Lenoir County

The estate of a 74-year-old man who was killed after his truck was hit by an impaired driver who had crossed over the center line has reached a $1.19 million settlement, an attorney for the estate reports.

Matthew Sullivan of White & Allen in Kinston reports that Kenneth Rouse Sr. and his adult son, Kenneth Jr., were driving along a two-lane road toward their farming operation in Lenoir County in October 2014. As Kenneth Sr. was turning left at an intersection, the defendant, William Davis, who had been travelling in the same direction behind them, crossed over the median, t-boning the Rouses’ truck on the drivers’ side. On impact, Davis was travelling at such a speed that his truck overrode and climbed on top of the smaller truck, coming to rest on top of it.

Initially, Davis asserted that a sudden medical emergency caused him to lose consciousness. Rouse’s surviving sons heard through talk within their small local community, however, that Davis had had a prior accident in which he claimed he had lost consciousness before running into a tree. Sullivan said he was able to uncover a local police report confirming that the accident had occurred about 18 months earlier.

“It was fortuitous that we got it. Someone just happened to say that, and that prior accident report really was impetus for filing the lawsuit,” Sullivan said. “That was the turning point, finding this other accident report that showed that something similar had happened recently.”

During discovery, the plaintiffs obtained a toxicology report that showed the presence of a significant amount of impairing substances in Davis’s body at the time of the accident that could have caused him to lose consciousness.

As a result, Kenneth Sr.’s estate reached a $1,060,000 settlement resolving his claims. Kenneth Jr., who required surgery and rehabilitation for his left shoulder and elbow but reported no permanent injury, resolved his claims for $130,000. The elder Rouse was survived by one other son and by his wife.

Stephanie Anderson of Burton, Sue & Anderson in Greensboro represented Erie Insurance Exchange, Davis’s primary liability carrier. The settlement also incorporated underinsured motorist policies held by the estate and the surviving son.

Anderson did not return a phone call seeking comment on the settlement.

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SETTLEMENT REPORT – WRONGFUL DEATH

Amount: $1,190,000

Injuries alleged: Death of driver, injuries to left shoulder and elbow of passenger

Case name: Doris Ann Rouse, Administratrix of the Estate of Kenneth Wilson Rouse and Kenneth Wilson Rouse, Jr. v. William Edwin Davis, III

Court: Lenoir County Superior Court

Case number: 15 CVS 272

Date of settlement: February 9

Most helpful experts: Steve Farlow of Accident Reconstruction Analysis in Raleigh; J.D. Poindexter (economist) of Roanoke, Virginia; and Dr. Brian McMillen, Ph.D., of Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University (toxicologist).

Insurance Carriers: Erie Insurance Exchange (primary liability carrier)

Attorney for plaintiff: Matthew Sullivan of White & Allen in Kinston

Attorneys for defendants: Stephanie Anderson of Burton, Sue & Anderson in Greensboro