Blog

2009 Traffic Fatalities Went Down

A Broken Record: the Recorded Statement

Jury Awards $15 Million in Accident Case

Woman Stuck By SUV When Crossing the Street Died

Toyota Halts U.S. Sales of Camry, 7 Other Models

Toyota Knew Of Problem Before Recall

Seizure disorder caused by injuries from a head-on collision

Your Auto Insurance Coverage

In these tough and uncertain economic times, the last thing most families want to do is to obligate themselves to pay larger monthly auto insurance premiums. What you may not realize is that the savings of ten or fifteen dollars a month in insurance premiums may cost you dearly if you are in a car accident. Take this scenario for example: middle aged family man gets home from work one afternoon. He decides to head out for a haircut. While driving through an intersection with a green light, his car is struck by another motorist who neglects to stop for the red light. The man driving to the haircut is seriously injured. It takes some time for him to recover from his injuries. The person who caused the wreck has a minimum limits Virginia liability auto insurance policy ($25,000.00). So does the injured man who turns out to be our client. For settlement purposes, the man’s personal injury case is worth in the neighborhood of $85,000.00. He will never be fully compensated because the most he can recover from insurance in this example is $25,000.00. Had the client raised his own insurance coverage to $100,000.00, he would have been able to recover the full settlement value of his claim by tapping into the underinsurance coverage available under in his own auto policy. The cost per month for this additional insurance coverage would only have been about the same as he would have paid for a decent haircut! This situation is not an isolated incident. We have had numerous clients at Rutter Mills who have been in the same or worse situations. You must plan ahead to protect yourself and your family from the risk of being the victim of someone’s carelessness. Look at your insurance policy. If you have minimum liability and underinsured motorist coverage ($25,000.00), speak with your insurance agent or insurance company. Get quotes for premiums which will give you higher policy limits. Then make a decision which will protect you and your loved ones from being a victim of the negligence of another.

THE ACCIDENT SCENE: How what you say and what you do can ruin your case

You prepare for work. You prepare for school. You do not prepare for being in a car wreck. But you should. You must protect yourself because in most "minor" or non-major accidents what you do and say at the accident scene will have a significant impact on your personal injury case. Hopefully, any wreck you get into will be one involving only property damage to your car. In reality, whenever objects weighing thousand of pounds run into other objects of the same or greater or lesser weight, no matter what the speed of those objects, there is a transfer of energy or force sufficient enough to cause injury to the human body. Seldom will you ever be in a car accident and not experience some pain or discomfort.

At the scene of the accident what you say and do will stay with your case from that point all the way through a trial. For example, after everything stops you get out of your car and look around. The other driver who caused the wreck comes to you and says, "Are you okay?" You say either, yes or I think so. The other driver, from that point on will tell the insurance company, the defense attorney, the judge and the jury that nobody was hurt in the wreck because he asked that question at the scene and the driver said he or she was okay.

The same happens when the police or state trooper arrives at the scene of the crash. The person with the badge and the gun who has seen every kind of wreck imaginable comes over to you and says in a stern and unforgiving voice, "Do you need paramedics?" or "Are you injured?" You shutter to yourself and don’t want to complain. But you are upset. You have a headache. Your neck is a little stiff. Your lower back hurts. You don’t want to hold up the long line of traffic which has formed in the roadway. You just want to get away from this mess. So what do you do: you tell the police officer, "I am okay." Or, you say, "I think I am fine." The officer will record, "No injuries" in the official police report or make a similar notation somewhere in his field notes. That notation and your statement will stay with you for the rest of the case. The insurance adjuster for the person whose inattentiveness caused the crash will throw that "fact" up in your face. It will come up during settlement negotiations. If you end up in a trial, you will find that the defense attorney makes the statement you made at the scene a central issue in the trial.

To further complicate matters, after the wreck, when you have told the other driver and the police officer that you are okay, you might be tempted to crawl under the rear of your car to check for damage. You might want to pull the crushed fender away from the tire so you can drive away. Don’t do it. Let the police officer or a tow truck driver do it. If you do it, the other driver or the cop will take note of that. It will haunt you throughout the rest of your case.

Truck Accident Case Settles for $3M with Traumatic Brain Injuries

Fatal Tractor Trailer Accident Due to Icy Conditions

Truck Owners in Fatal Crash Can Sue

Filing an accident report with the employer or insurer is not sufficient

Don't be Confused about Workers' Compensation and Third Party Workers' Compensation

No Worker Penalty for 'Creative Compensation' Settlement

FREE ADVICE SEMINAR

Questions or Concerns About Workers' Compensation?
Come to our Free Questions & Answer Day
Wednesday November 18th 2009
6am - 4pm

Attorney Bob Walsh will be at the Rutter Mills
Newport News location answering questions.

4702 Washington Ave. Newport news 23607
accross from the Northrup Grumman entrance
conveniently located between 46th St. and 50th St. Gates

Virginia Demands User Data However Facebook Refuses

Guidlines on Looking for Light Duty Work

The Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission has come up with a few simple guidelines on looking for light duty work that I felt were important to share with my clients.

Good Faith Search for Work - It is important to continue seeking light duty work in order to receive disability benefits.

Factors the Commission Considers - Factors that show the disabled employee has made a reasonble effort to find light duty emplyment.

Evidence of Reasonable Effort - Are you registered with the Virginia Employment Commission?

Keep a Job Search Record

Pre-Injury Skills and Experience

Method of Contacting Employers

Attempt to Maximize Earnings

For more information regarding the guidlines visit the Workers Compensation Commission.

The Purpose of Workers' Compensation

Many people come to me with questions about workers' compensation and the most frequently asked question is "Why can't I sue my employeer for my injuries?" Workers' Compensation was created for two reasons.

First being to provide replacement income and medical care to employees who are hurt on the job, who have lasting job-related disabilities, and those made ill by the conditions at their place of work.

Second is to reduce litigation against employeers. This protects the employeer from being sued in a civil case however it provides the employee workers' comp benefits.

Workers' Compensation is a trade-off of sorts, thus if you are injured while working for your employeer you can file a workers' compensation claim with your state's workers' compensation system. It is always helpful to consult a workers compensation lawyer in your quest to obtain workers' compensation benefits because these rules and regualtions are best understood by a workers' comp attorney.

THE IMPORTANCE OF STAYING IN MEDICAL TREATMENT

Auto-immune disorders and Social Security Disability

Social Security Benefits and Cost of Living Increase

Social Security Adds to its List of Compassionate Allowances

Social Security Disability and Neurological Conditions

Social Security Disability and Skin Disorders