Anyone know about personal liability law?

[BanzaiBonnie]

I'm writing you because this is a difficult time for a friend who was hit by a car while she was in a crosswalk in December 2010, in Portland, Oregon.

Out of the blue last week her attorney called and told her he had the final insurance settlement check for her. It was not much more than what her daughter received for a broken femur.

He explained that the sum and total from all insurance (hers AND the driver that hit her) has been used up. There is not any more insurance money to be had. Her attorney left it at that. It was shocking to my friend because she had not been informed that they were anywhere near a settlement. It was quite a “wham, bam, thank you maam, sort of scenario. 

Does anyone know if she cashes the check from the insurance company, does that only settle that part? Will she still be able to hold the driver who hit her personally responsible?

While my friend seems pretty fine to many people, she is not. As someone who used to talk with her several times a week, I understand how much she's lost. She is still fragile and should not be left to worry about how to make her way in the world with the brain injury she sustained.

At one time she was a camp cook in Alaska. She now has no sense of smell. She had also been a cartogrpher. Couldn't go back to that because she often can't even read. And she no longer has the ability to follow long, intellectual conversations.

Her attorney did not mention anything about the personal liability of the woman who hit her. He left her with the impression that there is no more to be done. Bullshit!

What I found online is : “If you don’t have enough insurance you become personally liable.” In general, does accepting the insurance company check absolve the other party of personal liability? Or, as I'm seeing it, just the settlement with the insurance liability.