Man Receives $1 M Settlement After Collision with Underinsured Drive

Ever fear being hit by an uninsured or underinsured motorist? A case in which a Johnson County man badly injured in an October 2013 collision was with a car that ran a stop sign by an underinsured motorist.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, John Morgan Smith of Holden was driving home from his job at Pyramid Excavation and Construction of Kansas City in a company-owned 2011 Chevy pickup truck when a 2005 Honda Civic driven by Lindsey Ann Bagby of Holden failed to yield at a stop sign. Two other drivers and a nearby resident witnessed the crash and all agreed that Bagby was at fault.

Mr. Smith was ejected from the truck after it careened off the road, overturned and then struck a fence. The plaintiff’s attorney, said his client, who was airlifted to a Kansas City hospital, had extensive orthopedic and neurological injuries. He was hospitalized for three weeks and spent another six weeks in a residential rehabilitation center. Hillebrand said his client made a “remarkable recovery” but still suffers “persistent neurologic symptoms.”

Smith first received $50,000 from American Family Insurance, Bagby’s insurer, and then $1 million from Travelers Insurance, his employer’s coverage limits for underinsured motorists.