Spoiler Alert: Don’t text while driving!

As a personal injury and criminal defense lawyer, I do not get many opportunities to use the phrase “spoiler alert.” So as an internet blogger, I finally get a chance to officially throw a “SPOILER ALERT” warning. If you haven’t seen Marvel’s Dr. Strange and don’t want to have anything you could have learned in the first 30 minutes ruined, then STOP reading this blog right now.

I was discussing this movie last week with a friend when I declared what I thought would be an unpopular opinion – I do not like Dr. Strange, the actual person at all. My buddy pointed out that Dr. Strange was not supposed to be likable. It wasn’t his arrogance that bothered me; I disliked his selfish recklessness. In the early scenes of Dr. Strange, we learn how he goes from an expert brain surgeon to a debilitated man in a hospital bed. Dr. Strange decides to pass other vehicles, illegally text while driving, and even review an x-ray while speeding around winding roads in his Huracan Lamborghini. The crash that ensues is violent and completely predictable.

The movie follows the crash and tells the viewer about how Dr. Strange deals with the aftermath of this car accident. My brain immediately began wondering about the occupants of the other vehicle. I assume that this violent impact would most certainly result in injury to the other vehicle’s occupants. If Glassman & Zissimopulos Law were handling that case, there would be a lot of interesting issues to investigate.

First, we would want to ensure our clients access the best medical care. We would want to ensure that we identified all possible sources of insurance that could provide coverage in this case. I would assume that Dr. Strange had a bodily injury liability policy and quite possibly an umbrella insurance policy. In Florida, we could obtain this insurance policy information directly from Dr. Strange by sending him a letter pursuant to Florida Statute 627.4137, which requires disclosing this information. Before any settlement was considered, Glassman & Zissimopulos would demand Dr. Strange provide a financial affidavit to disclose his assets and liabilities.

At some point during the movie, Dr. Strange bemoans the fact that he is running out of money as he attempts radical medical treatments. When I heard this, I immediately thought that he’d be irritated if our law firm representing the victims of his deliberate and intentional carelessness.

There were other possible wrongdoers in this scene. The caller on the other end of Dr. Strange’s reckless phone call identifies himself as Billy. Billy is most likely a nurse who is working for the medical group that employs Dr. Strange. One could infer that Billy knows Dr. Strange is driving – a Lamborghini is not exactly quiet. And yet, Billy, in his official capacity, chooses to send Dr. Strange medical records to review while he is driving. That sounds like negligence, and Glassman & Zissimopulos would certainly be investigating whether there is a liability on the part of the hospital.

At Glassman & Zissimopulos Law, we are constantly looking for every possible avenue to seek recovery for the harms and losses that our clients suffered.

In a future blog, I’ll explore the possibility of punitive damages based on Dr. Strange’s conduct. The pros and cons of seeking punitive damages and other legal issues that ran through my brain during this comic book blockbuster. Ending here with – Don’t text while driving!