Slip and Fall Attorneys, Find a Personal Injury Claim Lawyer

When it comes to auto accidents, people often wonder if they should contact a injury lawyer right away. It depends on the situation.

When to run to an attorney and when to walk. Contacting an attorney who deals with personal injury (especially relating to auto accidents) can provide you with the peace of mind that no stone gets left unturned. Here are some tips for when you should run to an attorney and when you can just walk:

-Run to an attorney when:

-An injury has occurred where there has been serious injury (broken bones / hospitalization) or where injuries are likely to be -permanent (paralysis);

-A death has resulted from the accident;

-Fault is clearly an issue;

-Other parties were involved such as pedestrians or other autos;

-The accident occurred in a construction area;

-A police report does not accurately describe the accident and puts you at fault;

-Important technical, legal or medical issues are involved;

-The limits of your liability insurance are low,

-You have no insurance,, or your insurance company suggests that you did not pay your premium.

-Your insurer starts “acting funny.”

-Your insurer involves its own attorney (in this case, sprint!).

Walk to an attorney when:

-Seeking advice on the settlement value of a claim (while not an exact science, attorneys may be able to provide best and worse -case scenarios);

-Unsure if other insurance (homeowners, travel, etc.) may be available;

-Fault may be an issue;

-Determining whether your insurer may be acting in bad faith (not looking out for your best interests);

-Seeking information on how to handle negotiations with an insurer;

-You don’t know your rights;

-Confused over the terms of your policy;

-Needing an expert to review confusing paperwork or forms.

(Source: http://accident-law.freeadvice.com/auto/attorney-and-car-accidents.htm, 2007)

Auto accidents can also be categorized by whether or not alcohol is involved. The gravity of the situation can also be determined by what injuries were incurred. Houston Personal Injury Lawyer


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Orange County Auto Accident Lawyers are in shock that the California Supreme Court has severely limited the protection afforded to Good Samaritans in California. Despite a recent ruling by that court, it is both sad and heartwarming to see that good deeds are still being attempted, even at the risk of life in Orange County.

 

Only days before the Supreme Court decision, a Good Samaritan female nursing student was trying to help a disabled driver, and both were walking on the I-5 Santa Ana freeway in Orange County when another driver crashed into the back of a car and shoved it into the two females. One of the female Good Samaritans, the 20-year-old nursing student was killed. The other female, a 16-year-old she was helping, was seriously injured.

 

Now, unfortunately, as a result of a new court ruling in California, if a Good Samaritan in trying to assist another does some additional harm to the person they are helping, they can be sued by a lawyer on behalf of the victim they tried to help anywhere in California.

 

If you need assistance with a personal injury or wrongful death matter or would like more information on this subject, we invite you to call us at any of the numbers easily found on our website at http://www.SebastianGibsonLaw.com

 

The new ruling comes by way of the highest court in California, the California Supreme Court, which means that the only way this interpretation of the law can be changed is by a subsequent ruling by the same court, which is unlikely, or by the State Legislature, which, even though it has its share of lawyers, right now can’t even agree on a budget.

 

The Court’s 4-3 ruling on December 18, 2008 comes as a result of an auto accident that occurred on Halloween night in 2004. A women was a passenger in a car that ran into a light pole at 45 mph. Her friend, who was in the car behind her, pulled the first woman by her arm from the wreckage in the belief that the car was about to explode and then allegedly dropped her. Unfortunately, the woman’s injuries left her a paraplegic and she sued her friend who pulled her out of the non-exploding car in the belief that the Good Samaritan’s rescue efforts caused her paralysis.

 

The Supreme Court was forced to interpret the California Good Samaritan law which is in the section of the state code dealing with emergency medical care and which states, “No person who in good faith, and not for compensation, renders emergency care at the scene of an emergency shall be liable for any civil damages resulting from any act or omission.”

 

Interpreting that law, the California Supreme Court held that the state’s Good Samaritan law only protects you from being sued if you render medical care at the scene of an emergency. If on the other hand you are just rendering aid or help in a non-medical way, such as pulling someone out of a burning car, you can now be sued. That doesn’t mean you will be found liable. That’s for a judge or jury to decide. But the fact that you can be sued, means that without insurance to protect you, you will undoubtedly need an attorney or lawyer to represent you, you will need to pay that lawyer his or her attorney’s fees and costs to defend you, which in a typical personal injury case can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

 

Worse yet, if by chance your actions as a Good Samaritan cause significant injury and a judge or jury of your peers decides that you really botched it when you took the actions that you took, perhaps in a mistaken belief that you were doing a good deed, a court of law could find you responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions of dollars if the resulting injuries are severe.

 

Whether or not any of these situations were covered by the Good Samaritan Law in California to begin with, it is possible that these situations could also now put you into hot water and into court as a possible defendant in a personal injury lawsuit:

 

1. Donations of bad food – Have you ever given old canned food to a food drive and failed to look at the dates on the cans? What if the food in those cans were beyond the expiration date and causes food poisoning? You might be held responsible in such a case, Good Samaritan Law, notwithstanding. Beer that is past it’s expiration date probably won’t be a problem for you but if someone serves it to a minor who drinks it and gets into a car accident, the server may face a lawsuit.

 

2. Donations of organs – Say you are still alive and donate an organ that fails after it is given to a sick patient or you give an organ upon your death that does no more good to the person it is given to than it did for you? Sounds like the deed of a Good Samaritan. And if you drank too much wine while you were alive and your shot liver is given to someone else upon your death, your estate may regret all that wine you drank while you were alive if the liver recipient doesn’t do well with your alcohol soaked liver. Still, we hope this is not the case.

 

3. Jumping into a swimming pool to save a drowning person – If, in pulling that person to the side or lifting them out of the pool you cause them injury, you can clearly be sued under this new ruling. And, if you proceed to give the person artificial respiration, but botch that as well, or if you botch it so badly, a jury or judge decides that you weren’t even rendering medical emergency treatment, a vindictive jury may hold you responsible for causing the swimmer’s death or additional injuries, such as brain damage.

 

4. What if you’ve been watching too many movies and you knock a person down or jump onto them to protect them from being shot by a bank robber running away and in so doing break their neck? Guess what? You may have just won yourself another lawsuit.

 

5. And if you swerve to avoid hitting a dog and hit another car instead? I hate to tell you, but in this situation, courts and insurance companies will almost always find you to be at fault, in the belief that a dog’s life has little value (this is not my opinion) and if you cause injury to another human just to save the life of an animal, you take the fall.

 

6. If you help someone out of a burning airplane, push them out the door into the chute and they take a header onto the tarmac, guess what? Some lawyer may slap you with a lawsuit.

 

7. If you see someone choking on a piece of meat in a restaurant and rush to perform the Heimlich maneuver, don’t bruise their ribs getting the person to cough up that piece of food. Otherwise, you guessed it. An attorney’s lawsuit may be served on you with your next meal.

 

8. Then there are those unfortunate EMS helicopter pilots. There has been a rash nationwide of EMS helicopters crashing as they transport accident victims from the scenes of their auto accidents to nearby hospitals. Since the pilot is not rendering medical treatment, it’s likely that they can be sued and can be found at fault if a judge or jury finds them responsible for some negligence in their piloting of their helicopter.

 

9. Is it safe to open the door for someone? Not if you open the door into their face and cause them an injury. People can still be kind to each other. They just have to be more careful now.

 

10. And finally, when you help another person put on a coat or pull out a chair for someone to sit down, those days of playing pranks on friends by hiding the coat sleeve or pulling the chair out a little too far are gone. They never really were Good Samaritan deeds, but now they absolutely and positively are not.

 

Can a person be sued for not coming to another’s aid? Apparently not, according to the California Supreme Court decision. But a person who does come to the aid of another has a “duty to exercise due care.”

 

If you do pull someone from a burning car, here are some facetious do’s and don’ts:

 

1) First, do not yank the car accident victim’s arm out of their socket when pulling someone from a burning car. Instead, first put on gloves, put on a fire retardant suit, and then with the flames licking at your suit, gently apply a neck brace, back brace, full body brace and with full medical precautions, gently lift the person from the burning wreckage. In the event, you see gas seeping from the gas tank and flames getting closer to the gas, move faster.

 

2) Once you remove the auto accident victim from the burning car, do not drop them on the sidewalk. Instead, gently place them on a warm blanket (not the wet grass where they might catch a cold).

 

3) Immediately, if not sooner, start applying bandages to every part of their body, thus qualifying your actions as emergency medical care. If you can do this while gently lifting them from the burning car, even better.

 

4) Request bystanders to take pictures with their cell phones of you applying bandages to the personal injury victim and acting like a doctor, even if you don’t have a medical license. If by chance you are not a doctor or paramedic, quickly go online, take a crash medical course to become a paramedic, and be sure you pass the test. Then print out your license for all to see.

 

5) Call only the finest medical personnel in the state to the scene of the accident in case your 911 call results in medical malpractice being performed by a newly licensed paramedic and your call is determined not to be an act of administering medical care in an emergency. Obviously, you will want to get onto the internet with your phone or computer and research the local medical professionals. If you can’t get onto the internet to research who would be the best emergency personnel to call to the scene, make the 911 call anonymously.

 

6) If the car that you thought was going to explode just doesn’t seem to want to explode, and you were a little rough in pulling the auto accident victim from their car, you may want to call a tow truck driver to push the car further away as this may prevent other injuries and help your situation. Just be sure to first ensure that any resulting explosion doesn’t hurt any bystanders or the victim you yanked from the car.

 

7) Keep administering medical care to the vehicle accident victim until medical personnel arrive. Since you’ve administered medical care, even if you are not a doctor, the car or truck or motorcycle accident victim is potentially now your patient, and there are rules about abandoning patients.

 

In the event the auto or motorcycle accident victim you’ve saved is delirious, you may also want to provide psychiatric counseling to them, which could conceivably also be considered medical treatment.

 

9) If weather conditions are bad or it is nighttime, and an EMS helicopter arrives at the scene instead of an ambulance, in view of the rash of EMS helicopter accidents in the U.S. you may want to suggest to the accident victim that he or she walks to the hospital as it may be safer. However, keep applying bandages throughout the walk and again, do not abandon your patient.

 

10) Proceed only to the hospital in your area with the best mortality rate. After walking ten or fifteen miles after a horrific car accident, because you stupidly declined medical treatment at the scene, you do not want to walk your patient into a hospital with a high medical malpractice rate or one with a higher fatality rate for car accident victims than ninety percent of the other hospitals in the state.

 

The California Supreme Court decision is rewriting the rules of liability in auto and car accidents, in motorcycle and truck crashes and in personal injury situations in general in the golden state and may make people think twice before acting as a Good Samaritan.

 

If you’ve had a personal injury accident in San Diego, Orange County, Palm Springs, Rancho Cucamonga, Santa Barbara, Yorba Linda, Tustin, Lake Forest, Fountain Valley, Rancho Santa Margarita, Newport Beach, Anaheim, Irvine, Huntington Beach, Corona del Mar, Laguna Beach, Santa Ana, Orange, Fullerton, Costa Mesa, or anywhere in Southern California, we have the knowledge and resources to be your California Personal Injury Lawyer and your Southern CA Personal Injury Attorney. Be sure to hire a California law firm with auto, motorcycle, truck, bicycle, pedestrian, car, bus, train, boat and airplane accident experience, wrongful death experience and insurance law expertise who can ensure you are properly represented and get the compensation you deserve.

 

If you have a personal injury legal matter, a dog bite or if you’ve lost a loved one in a wrongful death accident, call the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson, or visit our website at http://www.SebastianGibsonLaw.com and learn how we can assist you.


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http://www.ShanaBlack.com

San Diego Lawyer Shana Black is a tough, aggressive attorney in San Diego who practices in the area of personal injury / auto accidents and divorce / family law. If you have been injured in an auto accident, you may want to call San Diego Attorney Shana Black

Attorneys aids (Modern philosophy of legal discovery)

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(which includes medical bills, time lost from work, and prescriptions) (they pay for your rental and repairs) what i indicate is– this is the only compensation i’m going to gain… right?After an auto happenstance is it better to relay the insurance company you are traveling for business or pleasure? just wondering if any of the options cause a higher insurance rate. Or is business or pleasure is considered more risky by insurers.After an auto luck? I had an auto accident today, nearby was an officer there when it happen. Then we wrote reports and the officers told me I should call my insurance company ASAP. Luckily, not a soul was injured. 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I know for a while the age have been 15 and 6 months to bring back your temps. However, I’ve heard from abundant people if you be born in 1993, you…AIG sucks. My airplane be totalled by a gent next to AIG ins very soon 10wks latter they are still screw around,?ANY way to grasp the word out how bad this company is? After 10wks they are still trying to payment me less than the stated attraction on the policy. They are not even returning calls to the gent that hit me. They are necessarily incouraging me to…Aig versus geico, hold you get a agreement?I saw the aig commercial that can save you up to $300 on vehicle insurance if you were next to geico, called and get the exact same amount just as Geico. What’s in the region of that?Alabama Drivers LICENSE! PLEASE give support to!!!?when i was 15 years out-of-date and i did not have a learner license (permit) because of some eye problem so i couldnt drive. Now im 16 and now im competent to get a license within Dec. 2007. 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You’ve been injured in a automobile accident. Your child in the backseat has also suffered an injury. Neither of these injuries would be considered life threatening or permanent. The other driver ran a red light and admitted it was his fault, he just wasn’t paying attention.Under Pa auto insurance laws, you could now be entitled to a settlement for your injuries. A settlement for your pain and suffering which is over and above your medical bills and other out of pocket expenses. Will you receive a payment? When you purchased your auto insurance you chose a tort option. Depending on the type of purchase and the agent, you may or may not remember having the option explained in detail. This option will be the deciding factor in whether or not you are offered a settlement or you have to pursue legal action and fight for a settlement. Understanding the tort choices may help you avoid the frustration of finding out you signed away your rights and the rights of your children after its too late.Full TortFull tort is the most expensive option. This is the option your counsel will be hoping you chose. Under this option, your pa auto insurance policy will provide you with the option to recover a settlement for any injury no matter how minor. Pa state law says that the insurer for the “at fault” party in the accident must offer you a settlement for your pain and suffering. No lawyers, no hassle, they are required to evaluate the medical costs and make an offer. Of course you are not obligated to accept their offer and may choose to fight for a higher settlement. This tort option applies to your entire family or what is referred to as the “first party” in your pa auto insurance policy.Limited Tort Limited tort is the alternative option. By far the most popular option in the state. This option is normally 10-15% cheaper than the full tort option. Whether its the cost savings or the personal choice of the client this option needs to be fully understood. Using the same accident scenario as above. If it is determined that your injuries are not “serious and permanent” you will not be offered any payment for “pain and suffering”.Under the Pa auto insurance law there are only two sets of circumstances that will allow you to collect payment. First would be if the other driver was from out of state. Since Pa insurance law gives visiting out of state drivers full tort, then you are granted the same priviledge. The other case would be if the other driver was determined to be operating his/her vehilce while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. These two exceptions are the only stipulations that will restore your right to recover. Of course you always have the option to hire a lawyer and try to prove your case in court at your expense.I’ve found as many clients who didn’t understand this option as I’ve found who didn’t realize they had the option. Be very careful when making this important decision on your pa auto insurance, it will travel with you wherever you go. Using a trusted agent who can explain your choices in language you understand.


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New York is one of the biggest cities in the world and anyone who has ever spent anytime here knows how congested the city is and how much traffic there is. With that many cars on the road there are many accidents here each year. Some are very minor, barely involving any property damage. Some result in injuries, including serious ones, and even fatalities. In a city like New York that is notoriously expensive in; obviously car repairs, medical bills, and missed work can be more costly than in other areas of the country. For these, and many other reasons, it’s critical to have a lawyer that can represent car accident victims of all sizes.

A lot of lawyers require large retainers up front; fortunately there are many lawyers that will take car accident cases on retainers which allow all victims of all sizes to have access to the highest quality lawyers. This is important because the other party involved in the accident will have an insurance company that will make sure their side has a top-notch lawyer on their side. So for the average person to have a chance, they need the best quality legal representation. Beyond the tactical value of having a good lawyer; a New York car accident lawyer can make the life of a car accident victim a lot easier in a lot of ways. A good New York lawyer can help determine which driver is at fault and therefore how to proceed with the case. They can do the investigative work to determine if it was simply an accident or if the other party was particularly reckless in their driving behavior.

Most importantly, the other party’s insurance company knows that, in a serious case, you have mounting medical bills, more on the way, missed time from work, and a possibility of a lifetime of medical care. They will disingenuously offer you a quick settlement to make the case go away. And again, in an expensive state like New York, this will seem like a great deal. It will let you take care of your medical bills and auto repairs and worry about getting back to work. But insurance companies will notoriously offer less than what you are entitled to and that’s where having an experienced New York lawyer is so handy.

If the case needs to be taken in front of one of New York’s judges and juries they will do it. In other cases, your New York car accident lawyer can get you a higher settlement from the insurance company than you can on your own. Either way, having a good lawyer will benefit you in your auto accident case. Living in one of the most congested areas in the country, the potential for a car accident is higher here than it is in much of the rest of the country. Consider that along with the higher costs that are common in New York and the need for a good lawyer is apparent.


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I was seriously injured in an auto accident and have no personal ins. The dr.’s will not do 3rd. party billing & bill the auto ins. directly. They want me to pay for all care up front. The specialists want $500.00-$750.00 just for a consultation. I am in constant severe pain & need to get med. care fast but no one will help & the dr.’s won’t let me make payments! Go figure. If anyone knows anything that can help or a good lawyer that can help please let me know.

Seniors Volunteer to Make Intersections Safer in New York and Auto Accident Lawyers see the Larger Benefit
New York auto accident lawyer David Perecman views the effort as a way to make streets and sidewalks safer for everyone (PRWeb May 4, 2010) Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/Newyork/autoaccidentlawyer/prweb3954374.htm

Read more on PRWeb

The personal injury lawyer handling this type of case will understand the complexities the accident entails. These details will include the legal as well as the insurance involvement in the case. In some cases due to the nature of accidents, it can be difficult to determine who is at fault for the accident.  Many collisions involving vehicles are caused by:The drunk driverThe driver being drowsy due to lack of sleep or alcoholThe driver’s negligenceThe owner of the vehicles negligenceDistractions to the driverA driver using a cell phoneAggressive driving on the part of one of the driversPoor conditions of the road, such as wet pavement or icy conditionsMechanical failure of the vehicleA speeding driver One of the major causes of auto accidents, which can cause injuries, is the use of a cell phone while driving.  Research studies have shown the number of cell phone users has increased and it is understandable many of these users are talking on their cell phone while driving.  It has been estimated to be about 6 percent of accidents per year are caused by drivers talking on their cell phones.  It has been estimated 2,600 people will die due to cell-phone related auto accidents this year.Approximately 98% of reported accidents were caused by one driver’s inattention on the road.  Rather than concentrating on this road these drivers are rubbernecking, fatigued, looking at their surrounding, distracted by a child or a passenger, adjusting the radio or talking on their cell phones.If you are in an accident, you may want to talk to a personal injury lawyer.  The attorney will investigate your case to gather all the facts and the evidence of your case.  Calling an attorney as soon as the accident has happened, the faster the attorney can get started investigating your case.  The scene of the accident is cleaned up as soon after the accident has been reported and the policemen have gathered all the information from the scene they need to file their reports.  If you wait the attorney will have a difficult time gathering evidence for your case, because it will all have been cleared away.  The attorney needs the evidence to determine who was at fault and to present to the court should the need arise.  If the accident was not your fault the attorney will ensure you get the correct amount of compensation from the person at fault or their insurance company. If you are in an automobile accident and you don’t feel you are at fault, call a personal injury lawyer for the advice and help you need.For more information about all types of injuries, accidents, and wrongful death lawsuits visit the Injury Lawyer Group


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Looking for someone to represent me, make sure I get a fair settlement.
Please only reccommend someone you have used in the past.

1. Look to see if she could see Russia.

 

2. Accuse the police officer of being a socialist.

 

3. Accuse you of being associated with a terrorist.

 

4. Deny any involvement to the troopers.

 

5. Dress up in expensive clothes.

 

6. Use corny phrases.

 

7. Drop a hockey puck.

 

8. Call the First Dude.

 

9. Go hunting for moose.

 

10. Dump McCain out of the car.

 

Here are ten actual tips of advice from a personal injury lawyer to follow if you have been in an accident. You can also learn more about how to handle a personal injury in Riverside, or any city, by calling the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson at any of the numbers which can be found on our website at http://www.SebastianGibsonLaw.com  and learning how we can assist you.

 

Obviously, if you have had an accident, and you are reading all of this advice, it may have been a few hours since the accident. However, if you ever have another accident, or if it’s only been a few hours since you were hurt, here’s what you should do from the start.

 

First, take a look around and determine if you or anyone, are hurt. If so, taking steps like trying to prevent further injury or loss of blood are the most important thing you can do. Even if some other driver caused you to be injured, it’s just good manners to help the other driver if they are hurt. They may even be so thankful that they admit their fault to you. The worst thing you can do is get angry or start a fight.

 

Second, make sure everyone is safe from being injured further. If you are in the middle of traffic, and you are dizzy, sit down away from traffic. If your vehicle is a traffic hazard and you have accident warning devices like flares or triangles, put them out on the road to warn other drivers and get away from the car. Let the police an other emergency personnel investigate the scene with the vehicles in place and move them more safely at a later point.

 

Third, call the police. Accident reports are extremely helpful if the police will do such a report. Let the police know you are injured immediately. Answer the police questions honestly. But if you are dazed or confused, let them know you need medical treatment and answer only what you feel sure about. Remember, your statements can and will be used against you if you admit fault, and it will be too late and too fishy to later say you didn’t know what you were saying at the scene. Police know that your best recollection is immediately after an accident.

 

Fourth, get the other driver’s information including their names, addresses, driver’s license numbers, make and model of their vehicles, license plate numbers, and their insurance company name and policy number. If there are witnesses, get their names, addresses and telephone numbers as well. If the other driver makes any admissions of fault, write those down as well.

 

Fifth, if you have a camera on your cell phone or in the car and you aren’t too injured, take some photos of the vehicles and the scene. If you can’t do it right away, do it after you are released from the hospital.

Sixth, if you are hurt, obtain medical treatment. Don’t decline the ambulance or hospital examination to save your insurance company money or to be stoic. Take your valuables out of your car if you can and get checked out at the hospital. If you are not hurt, don’t get treatment you don’t need. However, remember, after an accident, you may feel a rush of adrenaline that causes you to only start feeling symptoms of pain a few hours later. If you have a health plan that requires you to obtain permission first, call them and find out where you are allowed to seek treatment.

 

Seventh, call a good personal injury attorney as soon as you have had your initial treatment, so the attorney can gather other important evidence and prevent the insurance company from taking advantage of you and obtaining such things as recorded statements that you feel fine, when many of your symptoms have yet to manifest themselves. A good personal injury lawyer can save you from making a great deal of mistakes and can shoulder much of the hassle of knowing what to do about car repairs, car rentals, medical treatment, witness statements and the like. If you think you will save money by not having an attorney, think again. A good personal injury lawyer can almost always obtain much higher settlements, obtain reductions of medical bills and insurance liens and prevent you from making costly mistakes. Also, most personal injury attorneys advance costs of obtaining police reports, medical records and the like and are paid and reimbursed for these costs only out of any settlement.

 

Eight, you will need to report the accident to your insurance company, but since they will want to take a recorded statement from you, just like any other driver’s insurance company, it’s good advice to retain an attorney first. And if the other driver did not have insurance, remember that it is your own insurance company that will be your adversary. You will also need to report the accident to the Department of Motor Vehicles and your lawyer can give you the form for this.

 

Ninth, do not agree to settle your claim privately with the person at fault for the accident. This almost never works out to your advantage. Don’t agree not to call the police. Police reports that determine the fault for an accident are golden. Your agreement to not involve the police only affords an opportunity for the other driver to change his story and blame you when the police will no longer investigate the accident.

 

Tenth, don’t pay a traffic ticket without a fight if you weren’t at fault or agree to accept a small payment for your vehicle repairs without knowing that the amount will in fact cover the cost of all the repairs.

 

If you’ve had a personal injury in Riverside, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Corona, Temecula, Murrieta, San Bernardino, Rialto, Redlands, Moreno Valley, Fontana, Palmdale, Victorville, Hesperia, or anywhere in Southern California, we have the knowledge and resources to be your Riverside Personal Injury Lawyer and your San Bernardino Personal Injury Attorney. Be sure to hire a California law firm with auto, motorcycle, truck, bicycle, pedestrian, car, bus, train, boat and airplane accident experience, wrongful death experience and insurance law expertise who can ensure you are properly represented and get the compensation you deserve.

 

If you have a personal injury legal matter, a dog bite or if you’ve lost a loved one in a wrongful death accident, call the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson, or visit our website at http://www.SebastianGibsonLaw.com  and learn how we can assist you.


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An auto accident lawyer sees the damage done in a drunk driving accident almost as often as police officers do. Unfortunately, after a drunk driving accident, a significant personal injury settlement or a hefty award from an auto accident lawsuit will never take away the devastation left behind from a drunk driver.

Auto accident lawyers work with the victims of drunk driving accidents as well as the families and surviving members of fatal accidents. Sometimes even the emotional stress of having to go through an auto accident lawsuit after a drunk driving accident can take a significant toll on a family, and sometimes it represents a sense of closure for other victims.

Consulting with an auto accident lawyer after a drunk driving accident does not necessarily mean that you or your family is required to follow through by filing an auto accident lawsuit. While many victims are afraid of the toll an auto accident lawsuit may take on them, they may find relief in the fact that most cases end in a personal injury settlement.

This is usually due to the very obvious nature of the accident, and the very high level of public awareness of the dangers of drunk driving. Drunk driving education starts in high school, and from there on out, there isn’t a single driver who isn’t aware of how dangerous it is to crawl behind the wheel of a car when affected by alcohol.

Being aware of how affected one is doesn’t mean that there will be any additional control over the vehicle. Being aware of how affected one is means that the driver knows full well that they do not belong behind the wheel of a car.

An auto accident lawyer can meet with the victim, if able, and the family members and go over the victim’s and family members rights in the event of a drunk driving accident. Nobody should have to go through the aftermath of a drunk driving accident alone, and an auto accident lawyer can make helpful recommendations in receiving the quality care that a victim and their family may need.

There has been an increase in the publicity of drunk driving accidents involving a single car, numerous passengers, and only one or two survivors. These cases typically involve teenagers and young adults who are interested in partying, but these cases can be a little more difficult.

The argument has been made that the victims knew the driver was drunk and still got in the car with them. Some people have disagreed with the high jury awards and personal injury settlements that have come from these cases. An experienced auto accident lawyer can fully explain the rights of the victims in these cases, and also explain why the filing of an auto accident lawsuit is not inappropriate in these cases.

The victims are not responsible to know the condition or the blood alcohol level of the driver. These cases can become very terse and tense if the auto accident lawsuit goes to trial, as the defending lawyer will attempt to blame the victims. In these cases, having strong representation from a well qualified auto accident lawyer is imperative.

However, it should remain clear that just because the victims were in the car and made a choice and perhaps were even a bit drunk themselves, this does not absolve the driver from his or her responsibility and may very well still end up with a high jury award or a high personal injury settlement.

Drunk driving accidents account for a large percentage of deadly car accidents on the road today. With public awareness as it is, there really is no excuse for drunk driving accidents.

Many people have tried to lessen their responsibility for their own actions by filing an auto accident lawsuit against bar tenders and bar owners, even filing auto accident lawsuits against friends who should have stopped them from getting behind the wheel, sometimes even after an effort was made to stop the driver from leaving the bar or residence.

Drunk driving auto accident lawyers are seeing an influx of defense cases involving not auto accidents, but citations and the loss of licenses and even jail time for individuals who pull over and stop driving due to the level of affect the alcohol has had on them.

In these cases, the driver attempted to do the right thing and correct his error in judgment by pulling off the road to sleep while he or she sobered up. It seems a little incredulous to punish someone for correcting their irresponsibility before it caused bodily or property damage to someone else.

In light of these charges being valid, auto accident lawyers are finding that many people are trying to get all the way home, having considered stopping but knowing that the consequences are still quite harsh.

Don’t drink and drive.


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If you are involved in a Rhode Island Car Accident, there are many important steps you can take to protect your rights and help you get the best Personal Injury settlement Possible.

You should contact a Rhode Island Personal  Injury Lawyer immediately after the Auto Accident.

1) If you are injured or feeling any pain, obtain medical treatment as soon as posible. If you do not leave the scene of the automobile or motorcycle accident by ambulance  than either go see your family doctor or go to an urgent care center. Your primary care Physician may refer you to a specialist. Many specialists will not see patients without a referral from a primary care physician.

2.) Call the police and notify them of the car accident or truck accident. In Rhode Island (RI), the police must be notified of almost all accidents.

3.) Do not miss medical appointments! Make sure your doctors are informed of all areas where you are in pain. Do not exaggerate your symptoms but also don’t minimize the pain and suffering. Keep your doctor informed of all symptoms.

Remember, an Insurance Adjuster will be poring over your medical records seeking to find inconsistencies, to discredit your allegations or to  minimize the pain and suffering that you have endured.

4. Remember,  as far as the insurance company is concerned if you are not treating you are not suffering. In other words, do not expect to receive damages for lengthy periods of time when you are not treating but you claim that you are still in pain.

5. Keep your Rhode Island Perosnal injury Lawyers informed of all medical providers, chiropractors, physical therapist, massage therapists, hospitals and urgent care centers that you have treated with.

Keep track of dates of treatment and what occurred during the treatment. Keep track of all medication. Save receipts for all medication.

6. It is usually a good idea to retain a Rhode Island Car Accident Lawyer  before you give a statement to the insurance company. The Insurance Company is not the enemy but they certainly are not your friend. They are trying to give you the least amount of money as possible or even potentially deny you’re the claim.

7. Take pictures immediately after the accident of your vehicle, the other vehicles and the scene of the car / auto crash. Take pictures of any visible injury, scarring or bruising. With a bruise you want to get a picture when it looks the worst. Do not have your automobile repaired until you have taken pictures of the damages.

8. Do not sign medical releases for the insurance company. The RI Personal Injury Lawyer will collect your medical records for you and submit them to the insurance company. You do not want to give the Insurance Company unfettered and uncontrolled access to your medical records!.

9. If you get cited for a motor vehicle violation, hire a RI lawyer to represent you. If you are found guilty or responsible for the  Motor Vehicle accident then your case may be severely impaired. The implications of not contesting a citation or pleading guilty could be detrimental  to your Personal Injury Claim.

10. Do not let the insurance adjuster influence you to settle the car accident prior to retaining a Rhode Island Personal injury Lawyer. The Insurance Adjuster wants you to take as little money as possible and they want to keep you away from a Rhode Island Automobile Accident Lawyer who can explain your legal rights to you.  

 

 


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Automobile insurance laws in Florida require the owner of a vehicle to have a certain amount of personal injury protection. Fla. Stat. § 627.736. Personal injury protection provides compensation to you in the event you are in an accident. The minimum amount of personal injury coverage required by law is $10,000.00 Fla. Stat. § 627.736, but you can purchase higher amounts of insurance that covers medical, surgical, funeral, and disability benefits regardless of fault. This is known as no-fault insurance. Fla. Stat. § 627.731.

Throughout most of the United States, auto insurance functions under a traditional fault-based system. Insurance companies make payments based on each person’s degree of fault in a particular motor vehicle accident. However, long, drawn out court battles are often required to determine who is at fault in many cases. In an attempt to cut down on this problem, thirteen states (Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Colorado) have adopted no-fault insurance laws- also called personal injury protection or PIP.

Under Florida’s no-fault insurance statute, if you are hurt in an accident, your insurance automatically will pay 80% of your reasonable medical expenses related to injuries sustained in the accident and 60% of your lost earnings subject to the limits of the no-fault coverage and any applicable deductible (or up to the specified policy limit) regardless of who caused the accident.

If you are a family member, no-fault insurance also covers relatives in your household who do not have their own no-fault policy. Personal Injury Protection benefits can be paid by your policy even if family members are passengers in another person’s car or pedestrians when they are hurt. In the event that you cause damage to someone else’s property, no-fault insurance will pay up to a predetermined limit for damages your vehicle does to other people’s tangible property such as buildings, trees, road signs, etc, and will pay to repair or replace other vehicles, but only if the vehicles were properly parked.

In the instance you are killed in a car accident, no-fault pays survivor’s benefits, which is income which you would have provided to your family. These benefits are usually limited to a maximum amount per month for a set amount of time. Your policy will not pay benefits if you are the owner or registrant of an uninsured motor vehicle that was involved in an accident. Therefore, it is important that you have insurance coverage on all vehicles that you own.

Many people commonly believe that if they meet the requirements under Florida law then they have full coverage. As the descriptions of the different categories of automobile insurance below indicate, the Florida requirements constitute a very bare minimum and rarely do they adequately protect persons involved in automobile accidents. The statutory minimum alone does not constitute full coverage. Uninsured motorist coverage, essential coverage, including bodily injury coverage, and collision are not required by Florida law.

Limits to No-Fault Insurance

Drivers should be aware that no-fault insurance has several limitations. These are a few things which no-fault insurance generally does not pay for: repairs to your vehicle after an accident no matter whose fault it was; repairs to another person’s vehicle after an accident, no matter whose fault it was, unless the vehicle was properly parked; and costs for replacement of your vehicle if it was stolen.

In order to receive a guaranteed payment, you must give up some of your rights to sue the other driver involved in the accident. You may be allowed to sue for non-economic damages if the amount of these damages exceeds a specified tort threshold. Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania have verbal thresholds. The other eight states use a monetary threshold: Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Dakota and Utah. New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Kentucky have a “choice” no-fault law. In these three states, motorists may reject the lawsuit threshold and retain the right to sue for any auto-related injury.

If you wish to file a lawsuit against the at fault driver, Florida’s no-fault insurance law requires that you must show that you sustained a “serious” injury. Fla. Stat. § 627.737. Pain and suffering damages are generally only recoverable for serious injuries that involve sustained permanent injury, significant scarring or disfigurement, or death.

There are two categories of auto insurance – first-party coverage and third-party coverage. First-party coverage covers you and your property (such as medical expenses, damage to your vehicle and the insurance company’s duty to defend you in the event that you are sued as the result of your operation of a vehicle, etc.). Third-party coverage is for your responsibility to pay for injury caused to other people (and vice versa), whether in your vehicle, or another vehicle involved in the accident.

The coverage (and its exclusions) is explained in your insurance policy. In exchange for the payment of a premium, the insurance company promises to provide compensation in the event of certain occurrences. While adequately explaining all aspects of insurance coverage and laws would be far too time consuming, the following is a brief synopsis of the most typical coverage and issues.

Personal Injury Protection

In addition to liability insurance, Florida requires all drivers to have Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage. Fla. Stat. § 627.736. Personal injury coverage is not health insurance, and it is not designed to pay for your medical bills. What it is designed to do is offer a onetime settlement or payment for all of your damages. In Florida, your policy must cover eighty percent of all reasonable expenses for medically necessary medical, surgical, X-ray, dental, and rehabilitative services, including prosthetic devices, and medically necessary ambulance, hospital, and nursing services. Fla. Stat. § 627.736. The personal injury insurance minimum required by law in Florida is ten thousand dollars for bodily injury or death of one person in any one accident. Fla. Stat. § 627.736. Lawsuits in Florida must be filed against the negligent driver and may not also name the insurance carrier as a defendant. In fact, the jury is not allowed to know that there is insurance coverage available on the defendant. If the jury renders a verdict in excess of the defendant’s liability policy limit, the defendant is then personally liable out of his or her own assets for the additional amount.

Bodily Injury Coverage

If your injury is caused by the negligence of a defendant, your attorney can file a claim under the bodily injury liability coverage of the negligent defendant’s insurance policy. Bodily injury liability coverage covers a driver’s legal liability for the injury or death that they, or any permitted user, may cause with their vehicle. When you are injured in a car accident and the person at fault is either the driver of the other vehicle or, if you are a passenger, the driver of the car in which you are riding, you may file a bodily injury claim with that driver’s insurance company. In most bodily injury liability policies, bodily injury includes sickness, disease, injury, or death arising from sickness, disease, or injury.

Medical Payments (Med-Pay) Coverage

When purchasing automobile insurance, you may elect to receive an optional type of coverage called medical payments (med-pay) coverage. Fla. Stat. § 627.736. Med-pay coverage pays accident-related medical expenses not covered by Personal Injury Protection. This coverage is available to the insured driver (the individual who holds the policy which includes med-pay coverage) and any passengers in the insured’s vehicle for injuries sustained, regardless of the fault of the driver. It is important to note that the insurance policy of the negligent party does not pay med-pay or PIP benefits to an injured plaintiff. These benefits are limited to the driver or passengers in the insured vehicle, regardless of fault. The plaintiff looks to his own insurance policy or the policy on the vehicle in which he was a passenger for med-pay or PIP benefits.

Collision Coverage

Collision coverage is a type of voluntary coverage you can purchase, which will cover the repair or replacement of your own vehicle after an accident, regardless of who is at fault. An innocent victim of an accident may present a claim for the property damage under his or her own collision coverage or under the negligent defendant’s property damage liability insurance coverage. Your own collision coverage normally includes a deductible, while property damage liability insurance coverage does not. In an automobile accident case, after a claim has been paid under collision coverage, the insurance carrier who paid the claim may proceed against the property damage liability insurance carrier for the negligent defendant to recover the amount paid out. This process is called subrogation, and does not affect your recovery.

Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Benefits

Uninsured/underinsured motorist benefits are another type of voluntary coverage you can purchase, and it is recommended that you add this type of coverage to your policy. This coverage protects you against a negligent defendant who either does not have liability insurance coverage or only has minimum coverage that is inadequate to fully compensate you for your injuries. If you are involved in an accident with an uninsured but negligent individual, your attorney would make a claim for you under your own uninsured motorist coverage. Your own insurance carrier would then have to pay any judgment which may be rendered, up to the limits of the policy which you purchased.

If the person who caused the accident has liability insurance, but the policy limit of his or her liability insurance is less than the uninsured motorist coverage of your policy, your attorney can make an additional claim under your own policy for what is called underinsured motorist benefits, in the event that your damages exceed the limits of the other party’s liability coverage. Uninsured/underinsured motorist claims can be a problematic area of law to practice, and the experience of an attorney familiar with these issues is important in order to obtain the maximum amount of recovery for you.


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1. Do you mind if we stop at a liquor store?

 

2. We’re lost.

 

3. This is the wrong hospital.

 

4. Do you mind if we pick up my dry cleaning?

 

5. We’re going to go to the drive thru. Want anything?

 

6. Do you mind if we pick up some other passengers?

 

7. Are you in a rush?

 

8. Oh oh.

 

9. That engine light just came on again.

 

10. Just want you to know, we don’t always go this fast. Our brakes just went out.

 

Here are ten useful tips of advice from a personal injury lawyer to follow if you have been in an accident. You can also learn more about how to handle a personal injury in La Mesa, or any city, by calling the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson at any of the numbers which can be found on our website at http://www.SebastianGibsonLaw.com  and learning how we can assist you.

 

Obviously, if you have had an accident, and you are reading all of this advice, it’s probably been at least a few days since the accident. However, if it’s only been a few hours or if you ever have another accident, here’s what you should do the next time from the start.

 

First, take a look around and determine if you or anyone, are hurt. If so, taking steps like trying to prevent further injury or loss of blood are the most important thing you can do. Even if some other driver caused you to be injured, it’s just good manners to help the other driver if they are hurt. They may even be so thankful that they admit their fault to you. The worst thing you can do is get angry or start a fight.

 

Second, make sure everyone is safe from being injured further. If you are in the middle of traffic, and you are dizzy, sit down away from traffic. If your vehicle is a traffic hazard and you have accident warning devices like flares or triangles, put them out on the road to warn other drivers and get away from the car. Let the police an other emergency personnel investigate the scene with the vehicles in place and move them more safely at a later point.

 

Third, call the police. Accident reports are extremely helpful if the police will do such a report. Let the police know you are injured immediately. Answer the police questions honestly. But if you are dazed or confused, let them know you need medical treatment and answer only what you feel sure about. Remember, your statements can and will be used against you if you admit fault, and it will be too late and too fishy to later say you didn’t know what you were saying at the scene. Police know that your best recollection is immediately after an accident.

 

Fourth, get the other driver’s information including their names, addresses, driver’s license numbers, make and model of their vehicles, license plate numbers, and their insurance company name and policy number. If there are witnesses, get their names, addresses and telephone numbers as well. If the other driver makes any admissions of fault, write those down as well.

 

Fifth, if you have a camera on your cell phone or in the car and you aren’t too injured, take some photos of the vehicles and the scene. If you can’t do it right away, do it after you are released from the hospital.

Sixth, if you are hurt, obtain medical treatment. Don’t decline the ambulance or hospital examination to save your insurance company money or to be stoic. Take your valuables out of your car if you can and get checked out at the hospital. If you are not hurt, don’t get treatment you don’t need. However, remember, after an accident, you may feel a rush of adrenaline that causes you to only start feeling symptoms of pain a few hours later. If you have a health plan that requires you to obtain permission first, call them and find out where you are allowed to seek treatment.

 

Seventh, call a good personal injury lawyer as soon as you have had your initial treatment, so the attorney can gather other important evidence and prevent the insurance company from taking advantage of you and obtaining such things as recorded statements that you feel fine, when many of your symptoms have yet to manifest themselves. A good personal injury lawyer can save you from making a great deal of mistakes and can shoulder much of the hassle of knowing what to do about car repairs, car rentals, medical treatment, witness statements and the like. If you think you will save money by not having an attorney, think again. A good personal injury lawyer can almost always obtain much higher settlements, obtain reductions of medical bills and insurance liens and prevent you from making costly mistakes. Also, most personal injury attorneys advance costs of obtaining police reports, medical records and the like and are paid and reimbursed for these costs only out of any settlement.

 

Eight, you will need to report the accident to your insurance company, but since they will want to take a recorded statement from you, just like any other driver’s insurance company, it’s good advice to retain an attorney first. And if the other driver did not have insurance, remember that it is your own insurance company that will be your adversary. You will also need to report the accident to the Department of Motor Vehicles and your lawyer can give you the form for this.

 

Ninth, do not agree to settle your claim privately with the person at fault for the accident. This almost never works out to your advantage. Don’t agree not to call the police. Police reports that determine the fault for an accident are golden. Your agreement to not involve the police only affords an opportunity for the other driver to change his story and blame you when the police will no longer investigate the accident.

 

Tenth, don’t pay a traffic ticket without a fight if you weren’t at fault or agree to accept a small payment for your vehicle repairs without knowing that the amount will in fact cover the cost of all the repairs.

 

If you’ve had a personal injury in La Mesa, Lakeside, Santee, Poway, Spring Valley, Lemon Grove, Coronado, National City, San Diego, Carlsbad, Oceanside, La Jolla, Del Mar, Escondido, Chula Vista, El Cajon, Vista, San Marcos, or anywhere in Southern California, we have the knowledge and resources to be your San Diego Personal Injury Lawyer and your La Mesa Personal Injury Attorney. Be sure to hire a California law firm with auto, motorcycle, truck, bicycle, pedestrian, car, bus, train, boat and airplane accident experience, wrongful death experience and insurance law expertise who can ensure you are properly represented and get the compensation you deserve.

 

If you have a personal injury legal matter, a dog bite or if you’ve lost a loved one in a wrongful death accident, call the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson, or visit our website at http://www.SebastianGibsonLaw.com  and learn how we can assist you.


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