injured Archives

We’re Getting Better, but Kentucky Needs to Buckle Their Seat Belts More Often

Seat belts save lives, and reduce the severity of many injuries in a car crash. We’re getting better, but Kentucky needs to buckle their seat belts more often. In 2011, there were 537 people who lost their lives in Kentucky car wreck. Only 230 of these individuals, or 43%, were wearing seat belts. Most people killed in Kentucky car accidents were not wearing a seat belt. The latest year we have data for is 2015. We improved a bit, as 44% of those who lost their lives in a car crash were wearing seat belts. This is a 1% improvement over 5 years, but we can do a lot better.

The percentages for those who were injured are very similar. The fact is you are less likely to be seriously injured or killed in a car accident if you wear a seat belt. After more than 20 years of representing people who are injured in Kentucky and Indiana I can tell you to buckle up. The forces inside a car during a crash are powerful. A person who is not restrained is moved very quickly in multiple directions during the few seconds at impact. This results in multiple injuries that could be avoided. Seat belts help to reduce the injuries to your back and neck. They also keep you in a more protected posture instead of hitting the windshield or one of the support beams in the car.

No one leaves their house expecting to be in a car crash. If you fasten your seat belt you significantly increase the chances of returning home safely. If you are involved in an accident you have a much better chance of reducing or eliminating injury altogether by wearing your seat belt.

Kentucky needs to buckle their seat belts more often to reduce the amount of injuries each year. If you are injured in a car crash caused by someone else I will help to ensure you recover as much as possible to cover your medical bills, lost wages and other expenses. Always seek medical treatment after an accident (even if you don’t think you were injured) and call me on my phone at [number] for a free consultation.

Car Accidents at Intersections Result in Many Serious Injuries

Car accidents at intersections often result in more serious and sometimes fatal injuries. Most people may think the most dangerous and serious accidents occur on two lane rural highways, and they would be right. Recent car crash data tells us a new trend is developing. Why are accidents in an intersection more dangerous?

One reason is the design of a modern car. Engineers have designed cars to absorb more energy and protect the occupants when the car is struck head-on or from behind. There is less to protect the driver and passengers in a car wreck when the impact comes from the side. Another reason is the increasing use of phones to text or email while driving. These “distracted drivers” are causing almost as many serious accidents as those who drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The Federal Highway Administration recently reported there were 2.5 million accidents involving injury in intersections. 40% of accidents in the US happen at an intersection. The vast majority serious injuries in these accidents and those which involved fatalities were left hand turns. Many of these drivers were attempting to hurry through a light as it changed. In my 20 years of experience I’ve also noticed that many of these accidents happen because people were:

Speeding or driving too fast for the conditions
Attempting to drive straight through the intersection as the light is changing or after the light is red
Turning left due to pressure from another driver honking their horn or pressuring them to move
Turning left when a large vehicle such as a truck or SUV is blocking part of their view
Turning on wet or icy roads or into a bright sun

Car accidents at intersections result in more serious injuries and many fatalities. Be very careful when you enter an intersection and take that extra moment to make sure it’s clear before turning left. If you are injured in a car crash at an intersection seek immediate medical treatment, and call me on my phone for a free consultation at [number].

A Criminal Conviction of D.U.I. Being Used to increase the value of a Personal Injury Claim

I filed a lawsuit against a drunk driver this week because the liability carrier presented me with a lousy offer on my client’s personal injury claim. For you as a consumer, the interesting part is how a personal injury claim interacts with the criminal charges of being intoxicated while operating a motor vehicle.

The facts of the car wreck were such that my client was a passenger in a vehicle that was one of several vehicles hit by the drunk driver. This is important because as a passenger, my client clearly did not have control over any of the vehicles involved in this automobile accident. As a result, there is no way anyone can argue that she was partially at fault in causing the car wreck. To use legal terms, the Defendant had no facts to argue comparative fault on the part of my client; a fancy way of saying someone is partially responsible for the car wreck.

So in regard to the personal injury claim, I collected all of my client’s medical records and bills and forwarded them to the drunk driver’s insurance carrier with a demand letter. In response to the demand letter, I received an offer on the personal injury claim that would have been considered low, but in the ballpark, for a normal personal injury claim. I also learned that the drunk driver only had the state minimum of $25,000 per person in insurance coverage. More importantly, contrary to the typical automobile accident, this at-fault driver was intoxicated when the car wreck occurred.

The other driver was arrested at the scene of the car wreck for Driving Under the Influence. Shortly thereafter, the Jefferson County Attorney charged him with Operating a Motor Vehicle Under the Influence of Alcohol/Drugs, First Offense. This would be a violation of KRS 189A.010 and ultimately, the at-fault driver plead guilty to violating this statute.

This guilty plea is a crucial issue in regard to the value of the personal injury claim. Very simply, I can use that conviction in the lawsuit to prove the other driver was intoxicated at the time of the car wreck. By doing so, I can claim that my client is entitled to not only compensatory damages (i.e. damages designed to compensate her for her losses) but also, that she is entitled to punitive damages (i.e. damages designed to punish the other party).

The Kentucky Statute on punitive damages is KRS 411.184. The gist of the statute is that a Plaintiff can recover punitive damages from a Defendant when it is shown by clear and convincing evidence that the Defendant acted with “oppression, fraud or malice.” The argument is that by operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, the at-fault driver showed a reckless disregard and a flagrant indifference to the rights of other motorists. Such actions are largely how the term “malice” is defined in the punitive damage statute discussed above.

So, in my opinion, the liability adjuster should have made a settlement offer on the personal injury claim that considered both my client’s claim for both punitive and compensatory damages. Since he did not, I filed a lawsuit in an effort to ultimately recover both kinds of damages on behalf of my client.

One last point is worth mentioning. The liability adjuster argued to me that the insurance policy for the at-fault driver did not include, and specifically excluded, insurance coverage for a punitive damage claim. I have heard that argument before. The better insurance companies (i.e. typically the larger, well-known companies) will usually advance that same argument to me while making a better than average offer on the claim for compensatory damages. In essence, they are preserving their legal arguments while taking additional steps to protect their insured from a lawsuit.

I will wait for another blog to describe if the insurance company actually asserts this defense to coverage through another lawsuit known as a Declaration of Rights. However, it is worth mentioning that the insurance carrier will have to hire Defense Counsel to defend the drunk driver from the lawsuit I have filed. Nevertheless, no matter who is paying the attorney’s fees of that Defense Counsel, the legal and ethical duties of that lawyer run to his client, which in this case is the drunk driver. So the lawyer for the drunk driver cannot advance the argument that the insurance policy does not cover the punitive damage claim as such an argument would be contrary to his client’s best interests. As a result, if the insurance carrier is really going to persist on this argument of excluded coverage, they will be required to hire another attorney who can act as their own attorney in this matter.

A Huge Mistake To Avoid in Settling a Personal Injury Claim

I signed up a client recently that was hit by a car while riding a motor scooter. After we met and I began to represent him as his lawyer, he solicited a personal injury settlement from the insurance carrier for the at-fault driver. He did not inform me of this and it escapes me as to why he bothered to meet with an attorney at all. Nevertheless, while the insurance company should not have discussed any part of his injury claim with him since he had legal representation, they claimed that they had not yet received my letter of representation and that my client had told them he did not sign any contracts with any lawyers.

Even though I think I could have voided any personal injury settlement that was arguably reached, my client instructed me not to interfere and informed me that he wanted to proceed with the settlement of his personal injury claim, despite my legal advice to the contrary. As a result, I withdrew from the case and allowed the client to resolve his injury claim as however he saw fit. However, he made a big mistake on a key issue that I want to make you aware of.

Except for the medical bills paid by a Kentucky no-fault carrier, the vast majority of personal injury settlements are inclusive of the medical expenses or any liens that stem from the payment of those medical bills. In other words, when you settle a personal injury claim from a car wreck in Kentucky or Indiana, that personal injury settlement will include every lien or medical bill except for those paid by a Kentucky no-fault carrier.

In this case, the injured victim was on a scooter that because of the size of its engine, qualified as a motorcycle. In Kentucky, motorcycle riders do not generally qualify for no-fault insurance unless they have purchased optional no-fault coverage. So the client’s own health insurance would be responsible for his medical bills. (Recall that the insurance carrier for the at-fault driver typically own pays an injured person’s medical expenses when the entire personal injury claim is settled; not as the injured party incurs the medical expenses.) Thereafter, my former client’s health insurance carrier could assert a subrogation claim against any personal injury settlement that was recovered for the medical bills they paid on the client’s behalf.

Essentially a subrogation claim by a health insurance carrier says that they legally stand in your shoes in regard to the medical bills they have paid on your behalf. So if you recover the medical bills from the at-fault party, the health insurance carrier has the right to recover the amounts they have paid from your personal injury settlement or you. Since the settlement of the former client was inclusive of all medical bills and liens, the client’s own health insurance carrier now has the right to sue him, their own insured, to recover the amounts they have paid on his behalf. In addition, some health insurance plans would give the insurance carrier the additional right to deny payment of future health insurance benefits to the extent that their subrogation rights were impaired.

In essence, the former client not only settled his injury claim too soon and for less than it was worth but also, the amount recovered in that settlement may not be taken away by the health insurance carrier to satisfy their subrogation claim. Very simply, don’t rush a personal injury settlement. The only one that benefits from rushing a personal injury claim is the insurance carrier.

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