Imagine, you are driving along an Ohio highway, excited to see your family. It is Thanksgiving and you haven't seen your daughter since Labor Day. You are thinking about how excited you are to see everyone, when in an instant everything is derailed.

One Ohio man was recently awarded $5.9 million as compensation for his critical injuries resulting from a commercial vehicle accident. The Ohio man suffered head and spinal cord damage. The settlement was awarded because it was determined that the commercial truck driver was negligent and reckless in his driving, thereby causing the accident.

Reportedly, the Ohio man was traveling across state lines to be with his family for Thanksgiving. Traffic was slowing — congestion was likely due to the influx of travelers for the holiday — so the Ohio man applied his breaks. The truck driver did not notice that traffic was coming to a halt and collided with the back of the Ohio man's car.

The Ohio man was consequently transported to a trauma unit in critical condition. Reportedly, the injuries "have left him with incomplete paralysis, unremitting pain and lifelong physical impairment." Such a condition will result in steep medical bills.

The settlement will work to cover these medical bills as well as lost wages — which woud be a significant amount of money because the Ohio man was a professor. Additionally, the compensation will hopefully work to cover some of the Ohio man's pain and suffering.

Source: Crown Point Community, "$5.9M settlement reached in crash that injured Ohio man," Deborah Laverty, May 7, 2912