Posted By Ron Kramer on February 20, 2010

Two drivers in diesel pickup trucks, that had been reportedly “leapfrogging” each others, became involved in a Utah personal injury accident near Roy, Utah February 19, 2010. According to the Standard Examiner, Chris Devore, 31 of Layton, Utah, was driving a lifted white Dodge diesel pickup and was reported to have been upset that he was passed by a Ford pickup truck, driven by John Zeuthen, 49 years old, of Ogden, Utah. The men exchanged the finger a few times and according to KSL News, Chris Devore got in front of Zeuthen and slammed on his brakes, causing the accident to happen. Unfortunately for Devore, however, he ended up on the receiving end of the road rage: he is reported to have received a “broken neck” from this and was taken in to surgery at Ogden Regional Medical Center. One of his two kids that were watching daddy from the back seat received minor cuts from flying glass.

So because of one man’s inability to control his anger, he is now left with a broken neck? What a sad consequence for such a minor insult. A broken neck, to me, means he potentially received a spinal cord injury, or SCI as it is called. At a minimum, I expect he bruised his spinal cord, which would affect all areas of his body below the area of spinal cord bruising. Generally, if you are going to receive a spinal cord injury, it is best to have is as low on the spine as possible. An SCI at the neck, unfortunately, has a more profound effect since it will affect the ability to move arms, fingers, etc. A complete spinal cord disruption in the neck area will render the victim a quadriplegic.

Even though it sounds like this man brought this on himself, I wish him all the best as he comes to terms with the consequences of his actions and as he does everything he can to medically recover. Thankfully the driver of the Ford was not injured.

Ron Kramer is a Utah personal injury and accident lawyer with offices in Bountiful, Draper and Provo, Utah.

Categories: Utah vehicle accident
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