There have been a number of fatal accidents involving 15 passenger vans in the news this month, highlighting the need for owners and drivers of these vehicles to take specific steps to ensure safety for their passengers.  Due to their much larger size, passenger vans have much different handling and performance from smaller passenger vehicles.  The increased size and weight require the driver to take a number of additional steps to insure safety, and prevent serious accidents and rollovers.  Below are a few tips to think about when driving a passenger van.

1.  Inexperienced drivers are one of the leading causes of passenger van accidents.  

Make sure the driver fully understands the difficulties and implications of driving a much larger vehicle.
2. Put an even greater emphasis on vehicle maintenance, especially tire pressure and brakes.

3. Don't Overload, these vehicles are already extremely heavy, and overloading the van can change the center of gravity and increase the risk of a rollover.

4. Increase Braking Distance - Give yourself much more room to react, and remember you aren't driving a sports car!
5. Slow Down!  These vehicles are not meant to keep up with everyday interstate traffic.  Drive at a safe speed and don't be in a rush. 

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.

Almost immediately after a motor vehicle collision, an insurance company will contact an injured person and ask them to provide what is commonly known as a recorded statement. The adjuster will sometimes take the statement in the initial conversation, but it is usually soon after the first phone conversation. The adjuster will usually ask the caller’s permission to begin recording the statement. Then the adjuster will ask a number of questions about how the accident occurred, conversations, and a person’s injuries.

If you have your statement recorded by an insurance carrier, you have the right to a transcribed copy. Virginia Code Section 8.01-417 requires the insurance carrier to send you a copy of any written statement relating to your injury "forthwith" or a verified typed transcription of the audio recording within 30 days after the statement or recording when the statement is transcribed or in all cases when requested by the injured person. But you have to request it to get it.The insurance carriers often base their decision of whether to accept or deny a claim based on the recorded statements. They begin investigating a claim almost immediately after it is reported and gather information, including statements, on which to base their decision. So remember when you make the claim you are going on the record, their record!

A recent report from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) shows that for the past three years, more than 1/3 of all complaints made by consumers to state insurance regulators have been about auto insurance.  The most frequent resons for complaints according to the report were delays, denials and unsatisfactory settlement sizes. 

At Rutter Mills we see these complaints in action on a daily basis.  We deal with insurance companies everyday, fighting for the rights of our clients.  If you are having a hard time dealing with the insurance company to recieve the settlement you deserve for your auto accident injuries, call the personal care attorneys of Rutter Mills today.

For more information on the NAIC study, including their best rated auto insurance companies - click here.