An injured motorcyclist has been awarded $5.2 million by a Parker County jury. The judgment was ordered in response to a collision that occurred in 2010. On October 8, 2010, Jerry Wall was riding his Suzuki motorcycle when he was struck by an elderly driver who was going the wrong way down an exit ramp in Hudson Oaks. Wall sustained multiple injuries including a broken arm, punctured lung, fractured femurs and a fractured pelvis. His injuries were so extensive that he had to have one leg amputated below the knee. The driver that struck Wall was 83-year-old Vernell Ingram. Jeff Swain, an Assistant District Attorney with Parker County, said that this has been one the largest amounts awarded in damages in Parker County in the last few years.
Justin Kennedy, an investigating officer with Hudson Oaks, notified the Texas Department of Public Safety when he began to question Ingram’s competency to drive. The Star-Telegram reports that additional investigative efforts revealed that Ingram barely passed a recent driving test on her fifth try. In Texas, people who are 79 years old or older are not allowed to renew their licenses by mail or online. They must appear in person to renew. At the age of 85, a person’s license must be renewed every two years instead of six.