A suburban Chicago man whose legs were amputated in 2017 after a car plunged into a parking space and smashed him into the front of a 7-Eleven store, reached a $91 million settlement Monday with the convenience store chain.
A Cook County judge approved the settlement the day the man’s lawsuit was set for a jury trial, said James Power, one of the attorneys representing the 57-year-old plaintiff, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
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The man was waiting in front of a 7-Eleven store in Bensenville for his carpool to a food processing plant on September 20, 2017, when a motorist parking in front of the store stepped on the accelerator of his car on September 20, 2017. instead of the brake, Power said.
An Illinois man was awarded $91 million in a settlement with 7-Eleven after losing both legs when a car accident pinned him outside his store in Bensenville. (ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
The car lurched over a curb, crossed a sidewalk and crushed the man against the storefront, causing injuries that would require amputation of both legs above the knee, Power said. The man was hospitalized for a month after the accident and now walks using prosthetic legs, he said.
“He’s been through a lot of pain,” Power said.
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The 2017 crash was one of thousands of similar incidents identified in the case discovery — collisions that frequently resulted in crippling injuries, he said. The crashes could have been avoided, Power said, if 7-Elevens had installed bollards — thick poles anchored in the ground — between stores and parking lots.
A spokesman for 7-Eleven, which operates around 8,000 locations across the country, said the company was “heartbroken by this tragedy” and that its thoughts were with the man and his family.
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“It is important to note that this unfortunate accident was caused by a reckless driver who pleaded guilty, and this store followed all local building codes and ordinances,” the spokesperson added.
