# Tracy Morgan in critical condition after an accident **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 7, 2014, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-in-critical-condition-after-an-accident/690272 "2014-06-07T12:28:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-in-critical-condition-after-an-accident/690272/121 "2014-09-30T21:13:41Z")
Right. It’s galling to read, but I would think it’s par for the course in a case like this. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-in-critical-condition-after-an-accident/690272/122 "2014-09-30T21:21:56Z")
Right. I was going to make a Pit thread about that, but then I realized Wal-Mart is looking to mitigate the amount of damages they’ll be required to pay. That’s the normal thing. I wouldn’t be surprised if they even settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-in-critical-condition-after-an-accident/690272/123 "2014-09-30T21:25:06Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Right. It’s galling to read, but I would think it’s par for the course in a case like this. The galling part is where they claim his injuries are \*\* wholly\*\* or in part were caused by the lack of his seat belt usage. Wholly? After seeing pictures of the crash I can’t buy wholly. ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-in-critical-condition-after-an-accident/690272/124 "2014-09-30T21:27:42Z")
> [@bump](#): > > So like **Marley23** is getting at, it’s about the amount of responsibility. So if Morgan’s sueing for $1,000,000 (to use a nice round number), and claiming it’s all Wal-Mart’s fault, Wal Mart’s coming back and saying that 40% of that is Morgan’s fault for not wearing a seat-belt, lessening the amount they’re on the hook for by roughly that amount. And is the $400K they would save in that case be worth the bad press they’re getting as a result of it? ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-in-critical-condition-after-an-accident/690272/125 "2014-09-30T21:32:19Z")
Yes. It isn’t just $400,000. Most companies don’t make a habit of rolling over and submitting to every suit brought against them. That encourages future problems. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-in-critical-condition-after-an-accident/690272/126 "2014-09-30T21:36:00Z")
> [@dzeiger](#): > > And is the $400K they would save in that case be worth the bad press they’re getting as a result of it? Bad press? Morgan just lost some of my sympathy. I still think it’s douchy that Walmart is making truck drivers have to disobey the law in order to make quotas, which is probably what happened, and I also think the driver himself bears some responsibility, because I read in a couple of places that he had some opportunity to sleep and didn’t use it (yes, I get that you have to eat, and shower, and you want to see your family). But I await the accident analysis to hear whether it is or isn’t true that the injured people could have suffered less had they been wearing belts. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-in-critical-condition-after-an-accident/690272/127 "2014-09-30T22:13:00Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Bad press? Morgan just lost some of my sympathy. Really? When you heard about this originally did you actually picture everybody in the back of that limousine strapped in with shoulder harnesses? That’s just not how you limo. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-in-critical-condition-after-an-accident/690272/128 "2014-09-30T22:57:20Z")
> [@GrandWino](#): > > That’s just not how you limo. What? seatbelts aren’t legally required in a limo? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-in-critical-condition-after-an-accident/690272/129 "2014-09-30T23:52:04Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > What? seatbelts aren’t legally required in a limo? In NY adults are only required to use seat belts in the front seat and seat belt use is not required for passengers in livery vehicles and buses. I’m not sure about NJ, but the idea is not completely crazy. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-in-critical-condition-after-an-accident/690272/130 "2014-10-01T00:07:11Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > In NY adults are only required to use seat belts in the front seat and seat belt use is not required for passengers in livery vehicles and buses. I’m not sure about NJ, but the idea is not completely crazy. I’ve been in many a limo, and I’ve never seen anyone wear belts in one. Not opening on whether it is lawful or not, but it’s not, in my experience, common. Never even been asked to wear a belt by the driver. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-in-critical-condition-after-an-accident/690272/131 "2014-10-01T00:52:31Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > In NY adults are only required to use seat belts in the front seat and seat belt use is not required for passengers in livery vehicles and buses. I’m not sure about NJ, but the idea is not completely crazy. Yes, I’ve seen the vehicle referred to as a “limo-bus”. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bus with seat belts. I don’t even think school buses require seat belts. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-in-critical-condition-after-an-accident/690272/132 "2014-10-01T00:53:54Z")
I think the lesson here is that we should all wear seat belts in limos just in case Wal-Mart sends one of it’s truckers hurtling toward us. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-in-critical-condition-after-an-accident/690272/133 "2014-10-01T01:03:45Z")
No, the lesson is that we wouldn’t need seat belts if it weren’t for Walmart. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-in-critical-condition-after-an-accident/690272/134 "2014-10-01T12:35:28Z")
My bad. Indiana requires seatbelts for adults even in the back seat, but I just Googled, and it’s one of only six states that does. So if I get in a taxi, even an extended one with high-backed seats, I wear the belt. But my family is big on seatbelts, so even when I was a kid, everyone always wore them, even in the back, even adults. About the only exception was long trips where someone might lie down in the back seat to take a nap, but even then, people usually did that with a lap belt on loosely, something I have since learned is actually really dangerous, but this was in the 70s; we didn’t know any better. But if it’s the case that it isn’t the law in the state where the accident happened, then it probably won’t be allowed as a mitigating (if that’s the right word) factor. The limos are probably manufactured with the belts because of the six states which require them, just like cars are all manufactured with emissions control devices that only California requires (or at least, a place to install the device and a fuse and sensor for it\*). \*I once had a car that annoyingly kept having a sensor go off telling me to replace an emissions control device it didn’t have, but it had the sensor because of California laws. I disabled it myself. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-in-critical-condition-after-an-accident/690272/135 "2014-10-01T14:12:52Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Yes. > > It isn’t just $400,000. Most companies don’t make a habit of rolling over and submitting to every suit brought against them. That encourages future problems. Wal-Mart in particular has a reputation for being doggedly combative when it comes to litigation- they absolutely will not settle out of court, unless they’re nailed to the wall with no wiggle room. So basically they’re going to fight like hell to not pay out, as a matter of principle to discourage future suits, while other companies usually assess the legal costs against the settlement and go with whichever’s cheaper, including any goodwill losses, etc… In some sense, doing it on a high profile case like this is GOOD from their perspective- everyone sees them fight tooth and nail in a highly public case involving a popular entertainer, and hopefully realizes that if you’re some nobody in a lesser case, there’s no way on Earth that they’ll settle with you. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-in-critical-condition-after-an-accident/690272/136 "2014-11-19T16:25:11Z")
Tracy’s lawyer is now say he suffered a deep brain injury. > **[Tracy Morgan Sustained 'a Traumatic Brain Injury' in Crash, His Lawyer Says](https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/tracy-morgan-sustained-traumatic-brain-injury-crash-lawyer/story?id=27008525)** > > Tracy Morgan sustained a brain injury in a van accident that was so traumatic that his lawyer said he may never again be "the Tracy Morgan he once was." [http://www.people.com/article/tracy-morgan-recovery-unsure](http://www.people.com/article/tracy-morgan-recovery-unsure) I recall one early video of Tracy walking out to his SUV. He was using a walker and supported by an aide. He got in the SUV and briefly spoke to reporters. He smiled and flashed the V sign. Same Tracy that we always see. He seemed ok and very much aware of his surroundings. His injured leg seemed like the biggest issue. I thought he’d be performing again in a few months. Apparently not. I hate to speculate, but could this reported downturn be about the lawsuit and $$,$$$,$$$? > [@](#): > > Tracy Morgan sustained a brain injury in a limo van accident that was so traumatic that his lawyer said he may never again be “the Tracy Morgan he once was.” > > Benedict Morelli told the Associated Press that Morgan, who was involved in a crash on the New Jersey Turnpike this past June, also suffered a broken leg, nose and ribs. > > “When you have a traumatic brain injury it takes a very long time to find out how you’re going to do and how much you’re going to recover,” Morelli told the AP. “You just don’t know. So that’s where he is. He’s still fighting and trying to live his life at the same time and trying to get better, and he’s just not better. We’re hoping and praying to get him back to where he was. But the jury’s out.” ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-in-critical-condition-after-an-accident/690272/137 "2014-11-19T16:35:10Z")
I got a hunch Walmart will be paying tens of millions to Tracy and the other victims. They have to compensate him for future lost earnings. The families of the dead victims will be well compensated and they should be. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-in-critical-condition-after-an-accident/690272/138 "2014-11-19T19:21:14Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Tracy’s lawyer is now say he suffered a deep brain injury. > [Tracy Morgan Sustained 'a Traumatic Brain Injury' in Crash, His Lawyer Says - ABC News](http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/tracy-morgan-sustained-traumatic-brain-injury-crash-lawyer/story?id=27008525) > [http://www.people.com/article/tracy-morgan-recovery-unsure](http://www.people.com/article/tracy-morgan-recovery-unsure) > > I recall one early video of Tracy walking out to his SUV. He was using a walker and supported by an aide. He got in the SUV and briefly spoke to reporters. He smiled and flashed the V sign. Same Tracy that we always see. He seemed ok and very much aware of his surroundings. His injured leg seemed like the biggest issue. I thought he’d be performing again in a few months. Apparently not. > > I hate to speculate, but could this reported downturn be about the lawsuit and $$,$$$,$$$? Are you diagnosing the extent of his injuries based on seeing a few seconds of TV footage? Morgan won’t get a settlement from Walmart without a thorough expert report. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-in-critical-condition-after-an-accident/690272/139 "2014-11-19T19:50:18Z")
His status at that point might not reflect his current status, depending on the injuries to his brain and the treatment that followed. After his stroke, my dad was recovering really, really quickly. Then there was an infection where they performed surgery, and he went back downhill. His recovery from that point was much more difficult, but it all stemmed from the initial injury (in his case, a hemorrhage). Also, he might be well enough to sort-of walk, and to briefly interact, but performing requires a lot more engagement. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-in-critical-condition-after-an-accident/690272/140 "2014-11-19T19:57:51Z")
For an extra 10 million would you exaggerate your disabling injuries? Would the majority of people exaggerate for that kind of pay off? Morgan will be compensated for future lost earnings if this is a permanent disabling injury. That could easily be up in the 10’s of millions that he would have made. He is an established star in the prime of his career. Had a tv development deal. His prospects of future earnings were quite good. He was badly injured. It’s a tragedy for all the people in that car. He’s only been caught on camera once that I know of since the accident. So we really don’t know how badly he’s disabled. > [@Acsenray](#): > > Are you diagnosing the extent of his injuries based on seeing a few seconds of TV footage? > > Morgan won’t get a settlement from Walmart without a thorough expert report. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-in-critical-condition-after-an-accident/690272.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tracy-morgan-in-critical-condition-after-an-accident/690272.md?page=8)