Car Wrecks Archives

Determining Fault in a Multi-Car Collision

When you have a car wreck involving multiple vehicles, the legal concept of negligence is still the key to proving which driver was at fault and recovering your damages. It’s why we focus on determining fault in a multi-car collision. What do I mean by this?

attorney jim desmond discusses determining fault in a multi-car collision

Assume you have a collision involving four vehicles at an intersection. The car closest to the intersection is the number one vehicle and the car farthest away from the intersection is the number 4 vehicle. If car 1,2, and 3 are completely stopped at the intersection, they can’t be at fault for the car wreck. After all, they are obeying the law and are lawfully waiting for a traffic light to change. They have not done anything negligent or wrong to cause the wreck.

However, if car 4 approaches the intersection and fails to stop his vehicle thereby hitting the rear end of car 3, he is clearly at fault for causing the wreck between Car 4 and Car 3. The fact that car 3 may have contacted car 2 which was pushed into car 1, has no bearing on fault. The drivers of cars 1,2, and 3 have a claim against car 4 for his negligent driving.

If car 4 is uninsured, it does not change the issue of fault. Fault rests with the driver that had a legal duty to keep his vehicle under proper control, failed in that duty and that failure caused your damages. This is one example of determining fault in a multi-car collision.

Speak to an Experienced Car Wreck Attorney

I’m attorney Jim Desmond. If you would like to speak with an experienced car wreck attorney, call me on my cell phone. My number is (502) 609-7657. I’ll be happy to listen to you about your specific situation.

If you’d like to listen to my podcast episode “Determining Fault in a Kentucky Car Accident, click below:

Medical Freedom for Victims: Your Right to Choose Your Doctor

To be clear, no-fault insurance, or med-pay coverage, does not require you to go a specific doctor or get pre-authorization. Rather, the Kentucky Motor Vehicle Reparations Act says that if the treatment is reasonable and related to the injuries sustained in the car wreck, the PIP carrier, a.k.a. the no-fault insurance company, owes coverage for that medical bill. You can treat with whichever doctor you want.

Don’t Let People Play Games with You

When it comes to personal injury protection coverage (“PIP), there are not any pre-authorizations or medical providers in or out of a network. Rather, a no-fault carrier has you sign a PIP application which is essentially, a fancy medical authorization. This authorization allows them to obtain your medical records and bills, to review them and to determine if they are related to the injuries sustained in the car wreck. Why is this important? Because you can go wherever you want, to whichever doctor or chiropractor you choose, to treat for your injuries.

I just spoke to a new client. In short, one of the big firms told him that he was going to be referred to a chiropractor, even after he said he was not comfortable with a chiropractor. Look, I have nothing against chiropractors but who he decides to obtain medical treatment from is the client’s choice, not the choice of any personal injury lawyer.

It’s All About You

My job as a personal injury lawyer is to advise my client of what I believe the best decision would be. It’s not to make that decision for him/her. I give out the name of chiropractors and/or medical doctors during the course of handling the client’s injury claim. However, I do so because either those doctors are easy to work or because they will work with me on reducing their charges, if necessary, to maximize a client’s recovery. Nevertheless, I make it clear to all my clients, and I have said this in front of doctors:

“You are my client, not this medical provider! While I appreciate that this medical provider may have given you my name, my legal duties run to you. If you are not happy with their facility or if the treatment is not helping you, let me know. We will find you another doctor, or chiropractor, and I will still be your lawyer.”

I consider some of the doctors or chiropractors that I have worked with to be good friends and I have even traveled with them. Nevertheless, my client has the absolute right to choose where he or she wants to receive medical treatment. My job, as a good personal injury lawyer, is to make sure those charges will be paid and/or reduced out of any personal injury settlement that might be reached.

Click here to listed to my podcast episode about PIP (“no-fault”) insurance coverage.

Need More Information?

If you have questions about your automobile accident, call my cell at (502) 609-7657. As an attorney, I handle motor vehicle accident claims in Kentucky and Indiana. You deserve to speak directly with an attorney; not a paralegal or case manager. My principal office is located in Louisville, Kentucky.

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Accountability Matters: Holding At-Fault Drivers Responsible

If you’ve been injured in an automobile collision, your medical bills will add up quickly. This is especially true if you are still treating. If those medical expenses exceed the other person’s insurance limits, are we letting the at-fault driver off the hook if we settle for their policy limits? We are not.

The Kentucky state minimum in insurance is $25,000 per person. This means as long as someone has $25,000 in insurance coverage per person, they are driving lawfully. What it does not mean is that they have enough insurance to cover your medical bills or your claim for pain and suffering. So, can I sue the at-fault driver and refuse to accept the settlement of $25,000, their policy limits? The answer is “Yes” but, I don’t recommend it. Read further to understand why.

If you sue someone, you are trying to get a judgment against them and then collect on that judgment. Well, if a person does not have any assets such as real estate and bank accounts, how are you going to collect on that judgment? The clear answer is you won’t. As the old saying goes, you can’t get blood from a turnip.

So, instead of trying to sue someone beyond their insurance coverage, the better route is to put your insurance company on notice of an underinsured motorist claim. In a recent case I am handling, I found $50,000 of underinsured motorist coverage that applies to the claim.

After I comply with a legal procedure known as Coots, see KRS 304.39-320, and your insurance carrier consents to you accepting the $25,000 offered by the at-fault driver, your insurance carrier acts like they insure the at-fault driver for another $50,000, in the case I am presently handling.

By filing the underinsured motorist claim, we have the ability to recover more dollars, beyond the $25,000, on your behalf. Your insurance carrier, not you, will bear the burden and expense of suing the at-fault driver to recover any funds they pay out to you.

No one plans to get into a car wreck. The results often complicate our lives in ways we never imagined. While settling for the at-fault driver’s policy limits, even when your medical bills exceed that amount, it doesn’t mean we are letting the at-fault driver off the hook. As an experienced automobile accident attorney, I highly recommend you review your auto insurance policy to make sure you and your family members have enough uninsured and under insured (UM/UIM) coverage. It’s a step you can take to make sure you’re protected when the unexpected happens.

If you’d like to listen to my podcast episode explaining Uninsured and Under Insured Motorist Coverage, click below:

Principal office located in Louisville, KY.

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Reflecting on Past Injury Cases: Lessons from the Yugo

Does anyone else remember the Yugo? It was a car built by the former Soviet Union in the 1980’s. Its reliability was so bad that you would have been better off driving a Ford Pinto than buying that car. Well, no matter they try to claim otherwise, there is no way any personal injury attorney, including the law firms that claim to be so BIG, can make it so that Yugo can win the Indianapolis 500.

Buying car insurance is like buying an automobile. If you buy the Yugo, you may save money up front but you will have a whole lot issues with reliability, repairs, etc. However, that does not mean you need to buy a Mercedes either. You need a solid insurance policy that will protect you in most circumstances and by doing so, you give your personal injury attorney something good to work with. It does not have to be perfect insurance all the time but rather, it just has to be good enough so that we, car accident lawyers, have the means of keeping you from going backwards for a car wreck that was not your fault.

You see, as much as the critics want to claim that we are just a bunch of ambulance chasers and car wrecks are just a get rich quick scheme, the real goal of any good personal injury lawyer should be keeping their client from suffering financial hardship from a car accident that was not their fault.

Well, if you have read my blogs previously, you know that I like to rant and the chances are that this blog stems from a situation frustrating my client and me. This time, we are dealing with a three car, pile-up wherein my client is being accused of not stopping his vehicle in time; even though he was hit in the rear end and pushed into the vehicle at the front of the line.

Recall that Kentucky is a pure comparative fault state which means in a car accident case, that fault can be divided among the drivers anyway a jury wants to as long as the total adds up to 100%. In this case, the insurance company is arguing that they don’t owe 50% of the damages as those damages, allegedly, stemming from my client hitting the first vehicle that had already stopped. If I was not clear, my client was the middle car in a three-car pile-up. So, in essence, the insurance company for the at-fault company is denying fault for part of the car wreck. So, back to the Yugo and how to protect yourself.

First, all my preaching about uninsured and underinsured coverage does not apply here as all vehicles involved were insured and my client was not badly injured. However, it just as easily could have applied. If my client had a surgery from this car wreck, I could see a situation wherein underinsured coverage on his own vehicle could come into play, even if the other driver was only accepting 50% fault for the wreck.

For example, assume the client has a $100,000 surgery and the other driver was only insured for $25,000. If the insurance company is successful in asserting the 50% responsibility (based on the comparative fault issue I covered earlier), the potential liability for the at-fault driver would be $50,000. However, even if their insurance company agrees to pay the policy limit of $25,000, there’s still $25,000 of medical bills remaining, not including the client’s 50% portion ($50,000 for comparative fault). Therefore, a good lawyer would be making an injury claim against the underinsured motorist coverage for at least the other 25% of medical expenses.

So yes, to say it again, always have at least $100,000 per person of uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on your motorcycle and car insurance.

What does come into play for this wreck is the collision coverage on my client’s own automobile insurance policy. Since the at-fault carrier is unwilling to pay for all of the damage to my client’s vehicle, we can use that collision coverage to pay for the damage to the car and my client is only out his deductible. This way my client can get his car fixed and back on the road while I have time to potentially litigate the issue of fault.

What if he did not have this collision coverage?

Then we would be between a rock and a hard place because he has a car that needs repairs to be operational and yet, he has no way of paying for these repairs. To complicate matters, lawsuits wherein we are trying to prove to a jury that the other driver was at fault, usually last anywhere from 18 months to several years.

In essence, we would need time to prove the other driver caused the wreck and of course, the client does not have time because he would be without a vehicle. So back to the original point which is, the better insurance you buy before the car wreck happens the greater tools you give a car accident lawyer to work with if an accident occurs. After all, the Yugo will get you there, but it may not have been the best option in the long run.

For more information, listen to my Kentucky Auto Accident Podcast or watch some of my personal injury videos on the website. Remember, you can always call me on my cell phone at (502) 609-7657.

In-Depth Legal FAQs: Comprehensive Answers to Car Wreck Queries

Episode 13: On today’s episode, Jim Desmond answers Frequently Asked Questions. Let’s face it, it is hard to understand the law if you aren’t a lawyer and even if you are one, it can still be challenging to work through all of the issues involved in car wrecks. Today we will be answering questions and hopefully be able to help you to better understand when auto accidents.

Do I have a personal injury claim if I do not have car insurance?

The answer is yes. This happens to be one of the biggest things that people mess up. In Kentucky, if you don’t have car insurance, you cannot recover the first $10,000 of your medical bills. In Indiana, there is not a penalty. If the other driver is at fault and insured, then you still have a personal injury claim. If you are unsure or turned away from other law firms, it’s important to keep trying. It is very important to try to be insured because then you won’t be penalized and there’s a possibility to make an underinsured claim, which says basically that your damages are more than what you may be recovering from the at-fault driver.

Why do I have to use my car insurance for the medical bills if I was not the one who caused the wreck?

In Kentucky, the idea is that you should not have to show fault or liability on a driver to get your medical treatment. If you get in a car accident, no matter how it happens, you are immediately entitled to $10,000 in medical expense coverage, which is called no-fault insurance. It’s not just your medical expenses covered, it also can apply to loss wages and loss of services and this even goes for the passengers of the car. It doesn’t mean you can’t recover the $10,000 back, you just have to pay it up front. The reason that Kentucky has that is because in exchange for that right, we give up the right to recover the first $10,000 in medical bills. It’s good because you have money there that can help you if you were to get hurt. The first question when it comes to car accidents is who is insured and for how much?

How do I get my car fixed after a car wreck?

You have two ways to get your car fixed. The first is when you are in an accident, police will usually arrive and take the drivers’ insurance and stories. After that, you wait for your police report, because that gives you the other driver’s information. This allows your attorney to contact the other driver’s insurance company to start a claim. Unless the person who hit you takes responsibility, the insurance company is allowed to investigate the case. The issue if they don’t take responsibility, is your car will just sit there. The second is if you have collision coverage on your car, you can use that. The downside of this is you lose your deductible. Later, you can get this back if the other driver is at fault.

How do I get the rental car extended?

If your car is fixable and at a repair shop, it won’t be that hard to get it extended because the body shop should be staying in touch with the insurance and keeping them updated. When the car is a total loss, they will owe you fair market value. This can be hard because you may have put a lot of money into the car to keep it driving, but they will see it as it is. Sometimes you can argue for more, but there’s really no way around it. When your car is totaled, the insurance company will limit how long you will get to use a rental car for, the average is usually 10-14 days from the day of the accident.

If you’re in an accident and the other insurance is not accepting fault right away, what should the driver do?

You should open the claim and talk to a lawyer. Many times, they will send investigators out and look at the area. Sometimes, we’re lucky enough to find cameras which may have recorded the accident. Another important thing is to get the witnesses’ information and don’t rely on the police officer. Sometimes people’s numbers change, or numbers can be wrong, so it is important to have those contacts. If you are waiting for the other driver to accept fault, they do have a reasonable amount of time to go through everything with their insurance and to investigate. Usually the more information you have, the faster it will be.

Why would I involve my health insurance if the other side hasn’t paid my medical bills yet?

The first thing to understand is that the other side won’t pay anything until they pay for everything at once. They do this so they won’t be making multiple payments. The other insurance adjuster will try to dispute everything and try to see if your injuries could be from preexisting issues. Usually, before you are seen, they will want to use your medical insurance for co-pays, which you’ll have to pay to get treated. One key step is to reserve the no-fault coverage, because that $10,000 can be used to pay things like co-pays or deductibles.

Are attorney fees negotiable?

Yes. There is no law that requires an attorney to ask for a certain amount for personal injury cases. The standard for a car wreck case is 1/3 of what you recover and 40% if it goes to a lawsuit. Most injury lawyers use contingency fees, which means the client owes nothing unless something is recovered. It costs 1/3 because some cases can take more than a year to resolve.

Will I make more money going to court rather than settling a few months in?

If you go to trial, it’s like walking into a casino because you are trying to convince 12 people that your claim is worth so much money. On the other side, the defense is saying your claim is not worth that much. A lot of people think suing will get you more money, but that’s not always the case. It really depends on the value of the case. Court costs also become extremely expensive and very timely.

For more information about Louisville Car Wreck Attorney Jim Desmond, visit www.AttorneyDesmond.com.

Important Disclaimers:

The information provided on this podcast is for general informational purposes only. It should not be construed as legal advice and does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. You should seek the advice of an attorney for guidance related to your specific situation. I am only licensed in Kentucky and Indiana, so the general advice provided may not apply outside of those states.

This podcast maybe freely shared, but may not be the modified or edited in any way. This is an attorney advertisement. Principal office is located in Louisville, KY. Co-host Jim Ray is a non-attorney spokesperson.

Category: Car Wrecks