A King County jury has awarded $15.5 million to Maria Federici, a Renton woman who was blinded and disfigured in a February 2004 Seattle car accident when part of an entertainment center flew off the back of a rented U-Haul trailer, crashed through the windshield and struck her. The jury found U-Haul most liable and ordered the largest moving company in the country to pay two-thirds of the award. The driver, who was towing the entertainment center, was ordered to pay the rest of the money. Federici's Seattle car accident lawyers had asked for $38 million in damages.

The car accident occurred on the Interstate 405 in the suburbs of East Seattle when a board from the unsecured entertainment center sailed through Federici's windshield and crushed her face. As a result of this Seattle car crash, she lost her eyesight and also suffered brain damage. This particular Seattle car accident prompted legislators to pass "Maria's Law" (named after Federici), which made it a criminal offense to fail to secure a load in auto accidents when someone is injured or killed.

Before this law took effect in 2005, drivers who lost their loads could only be cited for a traffic infraction with a maximum fine of $250. Attorneys for U-Haul blamed the driver of the trailer saying that it was his fault for not securing the load properly. They even blamed Federici saying she was tailgating and that her reactions may have been dulled by one glass of wine. The jury threw out the allegation against Federici assigning zero liability to the injured victim. U-Haul plans to appeal the decision.

This is not a new issue to us. Bisnar | Chase represented a wonderful client, Alvin Austin, whose wife tragically died under similar circumstances. Austin's wife was hit by an aluminum sign that flew off a truck and pierced her windshield. The sign hit her on the face, crushed her jaw and left cheek bone causing a traumatic and what turned out to be a fatal car injury. Maria Federici lived to tell her story and had her day in court. My client was left with two children to care for and a life without his beloved wife. The silver lining in Federici's case, if you can view it that way, is that she not only gets the justice and compensation she deserves, but her personal injuries would not have been in vain because of the law that was passed in her name. This legislation will help hold negligent individuals who cause such irreparable harm to innocent motorists and their families accountable for their actions.

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