Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 15, 1990                   TAG: 9003152733
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: HARRISONBURG                                 LENGTH: Medium

BABY'S FATHER GETS $525,000/ BIRTH PREMATURE AFTER DUI ACCIDENT

The verdict was the largest personal injury and punitive damages judgment in the county's history, court clerk Wayne Harper said.

The case went to trial Tuesday, and the jury returned with its verdict at around 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Martin Luther Driver III of Mount Solon sued Keith David Moyers of Bridgewater following an accident in November 1985 on Virginia 730 near Briery Branch, said David Penrod, attorney for the plaintiff. The trial date was delayed by the necessity for producing evidence of medical expenses, Penrod said.

Driver and his wife, who was six months pregnant, were en route to a church supper when a vehicle driven by Moyers crossed the center line and struck the Driver vehicle, Penrod said. Moyers was found to have a blood alcohol level of .26, he said. The statutory limit is .10.

The Drivers' daughter, delivered prematurely the night of the accident at the University of Virginia hospital, was born with cerebral palsy. Driver also was injured in the accident.

The court awarded Driver $75,000 in personal injury damages and compensatory damages for his daughter, $50,000 in punitive damages and $400,000 in provable medical expenses incurred and anticipated for his daughter.

The Drivers' baby has had six major surgeries since her birth - five on her head and one on her spine, Penrod said. Her medical expenses to date are $175,000, he said.

Driver will recover about $60,000 in coverage remaining in the defendant's insurance policy, the amount left after injuries to everyone involved in the accident were paid, Penrod said.