The Haggard Law Firm’s Douglas McCarron has obtained a $1.25 Million settlement in an automobile crash wrongful death involving a Miami-Dade County bus. Because the case was against a count(a sovereign immunity case), it was necessary to file a Claims Bill in the Florida Legislature to finalize the settlement.
Most Plaintiff law firms shy away from sovereign immunity cases due to the statutory caps of $200,000 or $300,000. The Haggard Law Firm takes these cases and routinely lobbies the Florida legislature successfully to pass claims bills such as the Sanchez case
On May 13th, 2019, Jason Sanchez was riding his motorcycle to work at approximately 7:49 a.m. He was traveling north on SW 107th Avenue in Miami-Dade County, Florida. As Mr. Sanchez approached the intersection of SW 107th Avenue and SW 176th Street, a Miami-Dade County Bus ran a clearly marked stop sign and entered the intersection. The bus driver drove the bus directly into the path of Mr. Sanchez, violating Mr. Sanchez’s right-of-way. Sanchez couldn’t avoid the bus. He crashed his motorcycle and died. The police investigation of the tragic accident showed that the bus driver was completely at fault.
After the incident, the bus driver gave several different versions of what occurred that day. Each one was different from the other. The dashboard camera footage clearly shows that the bus driver did not feel it necessary to come to a complete stop at several stop signs.
After running through a red light while making a right turn at 14 m.p.h., the bus driver rolled through three consecutive stop signs before arriving at SW 107 Avenue and SW 176 Street intersection. He then rolled through that stop sign while making a left-hand turn. This final violation of Florida law is what caused the collision that killed Jason Sanchez. The bus driver’s complete disregard for the public took an incredible son from his loving parents.
The Claims Bill was passed in June 2023.
