Uncategorized Archives - Attorney Jim Desomond

Kentucky Car Insurance and AI

I decided to us AI (a.k.a. artificial intelligence) to make a point I’ve about the inadequate limits of car insurance. Essentially, the Kentucky Motor Vehicle Reparations Act was passed in 1975 and still today. It’s the governing law for all motor vehicle wrecks that happen in Kentucky. That act, also known as the KMVRA, established that you could lawfully register and operate a vehicle in the Commonwealth of Kentucky if you had $25,000 of liability insurance. We often refer to this level as the state minimum coverage.

Today, in 2023, forty-eight years later, the Kentucky Legislature still has not increased this limit. As a result, I asked an AI bot, “What’s $25,000 from 1975 equivalent to today?” This is what it told me:

The AI Analysis of Kentucky Car Insurance

“To determine the equivalent amount of insurance required in 2023, we need to adjust the $25,000 limit established in 1975 for inflation. Inflation is the general increase in prices of goods and services over time, so it is necessary to adjust for inflation to account for the change in the value of money over time.”

“According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ inflation calculator, $25,000 in 1975 is equivalent to approximately $122,000 in 2023 dollars, based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Therefore, to have an equivalent amount of insurance coverage in 2023 as $25,000 in 1975, we would need insurance coverage of at least $122,000 in 2023.”

Would You Have Had Enough Car Insurance in 1975?

To flip the coin, I asked AI how much today’s $25,000 is equivalent to in 1975 dollars. This is what it told me:

“To calculate the inflation-adjusted value of $25,000 in 2023 dollars in terms of 1975 dollars, we need to use the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to adjust for inflation.”

“According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ inflation calculator, $25,000 in 2023 dollars is equivalent in purchasing power to about $9,070.91 in 1975 dollars, assuming an average inflation rate of 3.5% per year over that time period.”

“This means if that if you had $9,070.91 in 1975 and inflation had remained constant a 3.5% per year since then, it would be work the same as having $25,000 in 2023.”

The Law Hasn’t Kept Up for Kentucky Drivers

So why are all these numbers important? The Kentucky Legislature is allowing drivers to lawfully operate a vehicle with the equivalent of $9,000 in liability insurance. A limit, that was set in 1975, has not been updated to account for inflation and if it had been, every driver in Kentucky would be required to have at least $122,000 in insurance coverage. In other words, in hard numbers, Kentucky motor vehicle law continues to fall short and not provide you, an injured victim from a car accident, adequate safeguards to make sure the at-fault driver can pay your medical bills, much less your personal injury claim.

How Can You Protect Yourself?

So, what’s the solution beyond changing the provisions of the Kentucky Motor Vehicle Reparations Act? Make sure every one of your car insurance policies, and motorcycle insurance as well, have at least $100,000 per person of uninsured and under insured motorist coverage on it. Do not rely on your insurance agent to do this either; essentially, you can’t sue an insurance agent for bad advice. The law expects you to be an informed consumer.

As a Kentucky car wreck attorney, I know it’s not fair, or even logical, that you, the driver who did not cause the car wreck, are required to use your care insurance and plan for a serious car wreck. However, while the law endeavors to be fair, it does not always succeed in that result. Therefore, other than making sure you have the insurance you need on your own car insurance, before any car wreck ever occurs, there is no other solution to make sure you can recover all of the damages you sustain in a car accident.

Speak to an Experienced Louisville Car Accident Lawyer

I’m attorney Jim Desmond. I focused on handling car wrecks and motorcycle accidents. You might say, this is my wheelhouse. If you have questions about your situation, call me on my cell phone. I don’t charge to speak with you and to provide some initial advice about your options. My cell phone is (502) 609-7657.

Should I Give a Recorded Statement?

As an attorney, I really do not encourage you to give a recorded statement without your attorney. When insurance companies ask for such a statement, it’s their standard procedure. In response, I usually ask why they need it.

For example, if you were hit by a drunk driver, in the rear-end of your vehicle while you were standing still, why do they need a recorded statement to establish liability or fault? The obvious answer is they don’t. In that situation, I would not let my client give a recorded statement. However, in contrast, if the issue is who ran the red light and my client can clearly describe that he or she did not, such a statement may help the investigation and increase the likelihood that we won’t need a lawsuit to determine which driver was at fault.

After a car wreck, you should contact your own insurance company to report the accident and initiate the claims process. Your insurance company will likely ask you to provide details about the accident, such as where and when it occurred, who was involved and the extend of the damages. Most likely, they will ask to for a recorded statement wherein you would provide the facts of the wreck and a description of your injuries. Keep in mind that this can be used against you later. As a result, if you give a recorded statement, don’t minimize your injuries or guess at things you don’t know. Keep your answers brief. Only answer the question(s) presented and don’t hesitate to list all your injuries and the treatment you may seek to address these injuries.

If the other driver was at fault for the accident, their insurance company may also be responsible for covering the cost of your vehicle repairs. In this case, you should contact the other driver’s insurance company and provide them with details about the car accident. However, keep in mind that they do not represent you but rather, they represent the interests of the insured. So again, if you give a recorded statement to them, don’t minimize your injuries and don’t guess at things you don’t know.

Holding Drunk Drivers Accountable: Legal Options After DUI Collisions

So, I just spoke to a previous client who was in a car wreck. She suspected the at-fault driver was drunk and indicated he was slurring his words. However, as she indicated she did not think anyone was hurt, the police would not come to the accident scene and/or potentially arrest the drunk driver. Let me clarify that this is not a post about criticizing the police and their standards. As I understand it, at the same time as my client’s car wreck, they were dealing with a car wreck involving a fatality just a couple of miles away. This is a blog post intended to give you some advice should you face a similar situation with a drunk driver.

First and foremost, I love the cameras on our phones these days. With any car wreck, pull out your camera phone and start taking pictures of the damage to the cars and/or the location of the cars. I know this sounds bad but if you can do so safely and your injuries don’t prevent you from doing so, I would start taking photographs before I said the first thing to the other driver and before he/she has a chance to move their vehicle. Why? Because I want to have every piece of evidence I can to back up our version of the car accident and hopefully, not face a “he said/she said” situation.

On this issue, if you think the other driver is intoxicated, start to videotape the interactions; if they clearly demonstrate intoxication. Drunk drivers are subject to punitive damages because their behavior is so reckless it is considered a flagrant disregard for the safety of others but, to recover punitive damages in a car wreck, you have to prove that person was under the influence while they were operating their vehicle. Even with a videotape, that’s a high standard to satisfy and I cannot promise you that we could win that argument with just a videotape. Nevertheless, when it comes to the value of a personal injury claim AND demonstrating that you were not at fault in causing the car accident. Every little bit of evidence helps. Just like an insurance company will give us grief when there is little damage to our client’s vehicle, we can usually hit a home run when a drunk driver is involved, because we all understand driving while intoxicated is reckless behavior that needlessly endangers the safety of others.

Second, take photographs of the at-fault driver’s insurance card and driver’s license. Also, make sure that you find out if he/she owns the vehicle they are driving. When a car wreck happens, you have two means of finding liability insurance on the at-fault driver; the insurance covering the vehicle itself and/or the insurance covering the driver. The insurance on the vehicle is considered primary and is usually the first one to apply. The insurance on the driver is secondary and only comes into play if the insurance on the vehicle gets exhausted or if there is no insurance on the vehicle.

Click here to watch a brief video about collisions involving a drunk driver:

https://youtu.be/hLV-4mBk0Wc

As a personal injury lawyer representing the driver who did not cause the car wreck, I look for and can find compensation for my client through either policy, should one policy have been cancelled. The difficulty I face, as a personal injury lawyer, is that if I call an insurance company and give them information to find a policy on John Smith while they actually insure the vehicle under Bob Johnson, they may tell me that there was not a valid insurance policy on the date of the wreck; when in fact, they simply cannot locate the correct policy. As a result, the more information a client can gather at the scene of the car wreck, the better chance I have at moving the claim along quickly, at least the initial phases, to expedite getting their car fixed and determining if the other at-fault driver was uninsured.

Need an Attorney?

If you’d like to speak with an experienced car wreck attorney, especially if you’ve been in a collision with a drunk driver, Call Me on My Cell Phone at (502) 609-7657. I’ll be happy to speak directly with you. My primary office is in Louisville, but I handle cases in Kentucky and Indiana.

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