Plaintiffs were passengers in a limousine, whose driver failed to negotiate a lane shift in a construction zone on an Illinois Tollway because the Tollway and its contractors omitted advanced warning signs required by a safety plan to warn drivers of a curve in the construction zone. An ensuing motor vehicle accident caused a spinal cord injury at C6-7 and ultimately, quadriplegia.
Challenge
The Tollway blamed the limousine driver and claimed it had nothing to do with the design of the curve or the omission of advanced warning signs. However, the Tollways own documents showed that it was intimately involved with the design and attended weekly meetings where temporary traffic control was discussed. The lane shift was dangerous because it didn’t have a continuous barrier wall that would have redirected an errant vehicle into its lane of traffic in the curve. Instead the limo hit the terminal end section of the temporary median barrier wall which had a crash cushion on it and flipped over. The design of the curve violated AASHTO and was unreasonably dangerous. To make matters worse the Tollway didn’t warn of the dangerous curve.
Approach
Our team created two, user-driven, interactive presentations: one focused on the liability side of the case and the other, on damages.
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01
The first presentation focused on liability, demonstrating the progression of the construction using satellite imagery, photographs and a 3D model to rotate about the construction zone to show how the required signs were present, moved, and eliminated over the course of construction.
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02
The second presentation, aimed at conveying damages, demonstrated the extent of the resulting injuries with a custom, interactive Digital Injury Summary. For the spine injuries, we included a series of colorized, radiographic films, which ultimately helped the experts lay a foundation for the resulting quadriplegia.
An interactive presentation demonstrated the progression of the construction, showing how the required signs were present, moved, and eliminated over the course of construction.
A custom, interactive Digital Injury Summary demonstrated the severity of the injuries.
2D animations detailed each surgical procedure, step-by-step.
Result
The jury returned a historic $104 million verdict for the plaintiffs. This victory was anchored by a two-pronged visual strategy that proved both liability and damages with forensic precision.
To establish liability, we reconstructed the construction zone using a combination of satellite imagery, site photographs, and a custom 3D model. By rotating through the digital environment, we demonstrated the dangerous progression of the site—visually proving how required safety signs were present, moved, and eventually eliminated over the course of construction.
Complementing this, our medical team transformed radiographic films into high-fidelity injury summaries. This provided an undeniable roadmap of the C6-7 spinal damage and resulting quadriplegia. This comprehensive forensic foundation allowed expert witnesses to testify with absolute authority, ensuring the jury fully grasped the negligence of the construction and the catastrophic nature of the resulting damages.
“Working with MediVisuals + High Impact was seamless. We explained what we needed and they delivered powerful demonstrative exhibits that clearly showed the injuries. Our treating neurosurgeon and orthopedic doctors that testified about the nature, extent and severity of the injuries used the exhibits flawlessly.”
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