A Monmouth County jury awarded $5.3 million on Dec. 13 to a plaintiff injured in an SUV rollover, but she will get only $1.06 million because she was not using her seat belt.
Keila Cengiz was a passenger in the vehicle, driven by her husband Yucel Cengiz, on Dec. 9, 2006. In trying to move from the left to right lane on Route 9 south in Howell, Yucel did not see a car driven by Duong Tran, who moved to the shoulder in an attempt to avoid a crash. Yucel jerked to the left and lost control, as did Tran, causing the vehicles to collide, which sent Yucel’s SUV into a multiple rollover, says plaintiff attorney, James Maggs of Maggs & McDermott in Brielle.
