Plaintiff’s Failure to Wear a Seat Belt Results in Defense Verdict
On August 18, 2026, Scott Macdonald and Alex Macdonald secured a defense verdict in Orange County. This was a disputed liability case. Plaintiff and his wife were passengers on a mini-coach vehicle driven by our client, the defendant driver. Plaintiff claimed injury primarily to his right knee after he fell out of his seat during a left turn executed by the driver between 5-13 mph. In the nearly two years following the incident, Plaintiff had five right knee surgeries. At trial, Plaintiff admitted that there was a seat belt available to Plaintiff, Plaintiff did not wear a seat belt, and there was nothing wrong with the left turn executed by the driver. Plaintiff and his counsel also admitted to the jury that Plaintiff would not have been injured had he been wearing a seat belt.
The sole issue for the jury was whether or not the defendant driver gave a safety speech to the occupants of the vehicle, including an instruction to wear the available seat belts. Plaintiff claimed that the driver did not, and Defendants claimed that the driver did. Plaintiff offered only himself and his wife as witnesses in support of Plaintiff’s position. Defendant offered the driver, company personnel, and an independent witness on the bus to support the position that the driver gave the speech, and always does on his trips.
Plaintiff waived all economic damages and only sought past and future pain and suffering damages. During closing, Plaintiff’s counsel asked the jury to award $2,000,000 in past pain and suffering, and $3,000,000 in future pain and suffering, totaling $5,000,000. In a nine-to-three verdict, the jury determined that the driver was not negligent. Prior to trial, Defendants made a 998 offer for $150,000, which Plaintiff did not accept.