Because this is probably not one claim. It's two or three claims, with two or three groups trying to dump fault on somebody else.

That's why your coworker's number means almost nothing by itself.

If you work for Albuquerque Parks and Recreation, got hit while driving a city truck or equipment rig, and a big SUV tried some dumb three-point turn on a skinny street in Barelas, Old Town, or one of those tight North Valley roads, the city may owe workers' comp benefits.

Separately, the SUV driver may owe for the crash.

Separately from that, if the driver had garbage coverage or no coverage at all - and New Mexico has a brutal uninsured-driver problem - there may be an uninsured or underinsured motorist issue somewhere in the stack.

That's where the $4,500 offer starts to smell like a setup.

Why your payout looks low when somebody else's looked big

Workers' comp is not a pain-and-suffering case.

That's the part people miss.

If the city is handling this as a work injury only, the checks are usually for medical treatment and wage benefits, not the full value of what the crash did to your neck, back, shoulder, or career.

So your coworker's $60,000 may have been a third-party settlement against another driver, not just comp money.

Or it may have involved surgery, permanent restrictions, a cleaner liability picture, or better documentation from day one.

If you're a CDL holder, there's another layer. A lot of city employees in parks, streets, and solid waste are terrified to push too hard because any "preventable accident" finding can follow them into hiring screens and DAC-type employment reporting. The money isn't the only thing on the line. Your ability to get hired somewhere else is.

Employers know that.

Some absolutely use it.

The blame game is the whole strategy

The SUV driver's insurer will say you should have stopped, moved over, used your horn, or "anticipated" the turn.

The city may quietly say you weren't positioned correctly on the street, or that you aggravated an old injury, or that this is a minor strain.

Meanwhile, you're stuck in the middle with a sore spine and a dirty incident record.

New Mexico is a pure comparative fault state. That means even if they stick you with part of the blame, you can still recover. Even at very high fault, a claim doesn't just die. It gets reduced by your percentage.

So if your damages are worth $50,000 and they say you were 20% at fault, the recoverable amount would be reduced to $40,000.

Here's where New Mexico is different from what people assume: in a crash case like this, fault is usually divided by percentage. It's not old-school "one defendant pays everything because somebody has deep pockets." The city, the SUV driver, and anybody else involved usually fight over their own slice.

That fight drags the value down unless the evidence is tight.

The report, the route, and the truck matter more than your boss's opinion

For a three-point-turn crash, the key facts are boring but decisive:

• exactly where your city vehicle was on the roadway, whether you were moving or stopped, what the SUV did on each turn, whether APD noted improper turning or failure to yield, and whether damage lines up with their story

Photos of the street width, parked cars, curb line, and impact points matter a lot on Albuquerque side streets. So does the unit assignment, route sheet, and whether you were on duty between parks jobs or hauling tools.

If you went to UNM Hospital, that record can carry serious weight because UNM is the state's only Level I trauma center and its charting tends to be detailed. The first medical note often does more work than weeks of arguing later.

The retaliation issue is real, but it also makes people underclaim

A lot of public workers worry less about pain than about being branded "a problem."

That fear keeps people from reporting symptoms early, following through on treatment, or correcting a bad accident narrative.

Then the city says, "See? Must not have been that hurt."

If the city's comp side pays your treatment, that does not let the SUV driver off the hook. And if you later recover money from the SUV claim, the city or its comp administrator may assert subrogation - basically, reimbursement for what comp paid out.

That's another reason your offer looks insultingly low at first. The adjuster is already thinking about what gets paid back, what percentage of fault can be pinned on you, and how scared you are of rocking the boat.

For a parks employee with a CDL, the smartest move is keeping the injury claim separate in your own mind from the accident-preventability fight. A weak injury settlement doesn't protect your driving record. It just leaves you underpaid while everybody else argues over percentages and reimbursement.