Car Accident Tips
Brien Roche
If you have a car accident, there are several things that may be worthy of consideration:
Get Prompt Medical Treatment
Some lawyers refer clients or potential clients to particular providers. The reason for that is that these providers have some relationship with the attorney that may work to the benefit of the client. Typically these providers however tend to over-treat. They may run up huge bills that the liability insurance carrier will then contest. In most cases it is better to obtain your own medical treatment. If you have health insurance coverage, then use that to pay for the treatment. If you don’t have health insurance coverage, you may have what is called “Medical Payments Coverage” on the vehicle that you are in. Where you have that coverage available, use it.
If you have none of those forms of coverage then you may have to seek treatment from the providers your attorney is willing to refer you to.
In most cases, it’s best to follow the recommendation of the emergency room that you went to in terms of follow-up care. If there was no such recommendation, then you should go to see your primary care provider. Follow the advice of that primary care provider.
Car Accident Tips – Get Pictures
If at the scene you or someone with you is able to take pictures of the scene and of the vehicles, that’s important. If you’re able to take a video of the other driver, that likewise could be critical. Especially if that driver is in any way impaired.
Notify Your Carrier
Whether you intend to make a claim against your own insurance policy or not, notify your insurance company of the crash. It may be that you have to make a claim against your comprehensive coverage. It may be that down the road you make a claim against your medical payments coverage. Also you may have available uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. That coverage may be invoked if the other driver has either no coverage or low limits.
Car Accident Tips – Review your Coverage
After you’ve notified your own carrier, you need to take a look at what coverage is available to you. To get a better sense of that, there are several blog posts on this site dealing with comprehensive coverage,liability coverage, uninsured coverage and medpay coverage Those blog posts give a good overview of what is offered through those endorsements. If you have questions about the scope of your coverage, you should speak with your agent.
Car Accident Tips – Dealing with the Other Insurance Company
The other insurance company is a liability carrier. They may be very aggressive in terms of dealing with you. If they contact you directly, they will ask for a recorded statement. You should not give one. If you’re going to retain counsel, then let the attorney deal with that liability carrier. If you’re not going to hire a lawyer, then deal with that insurance company recognizing that they are not out to do you any favors. You should not let them pay any of your medical bills. If they pay any of your medical bills and you thereafter assert a claim, you may not be able to claim those medical bills as part of your damages.
Car crashes come in a number of different forms and involve a number of different culprits.
Drunk Drivers
Drunk driving is still at high levels. Although drunk drivers are sometimes punished through large court awards those awards may go unpaid. Many people carry minimum policy limits. In many areas drivers are not even required to have coverage. For instance in Virginia, insurance coverage for an auto is not required. If however you do not have coverage then you must pay an uninsured motorist fee to the state.
That results in a number of drivers on the road who are not covered. If you have the bad luck of being struck by a drunk driver who is not covered then your recovery is limited to whatever is your uninsured limits. The odd thing about an uninsured motorist claim is that it puts you adverse to your own insurer. That is you are seeking money from your carrier based on the conduct of a third party. Any payment for that misconduct of the third party is coming from your own insurer. The purpose of this coverage is to provide you (the insured) a source of payment in the event that at-fault driver does not have enough coverage. Call, or contact us for a free consult.
The fact that you seek seek coverage under your UM/UIM endorsement should not have any effect on your premiums. The collision is not your fault.
Drunk Driving May Be The Basis For Punitive Damages.
Drunk driving car accident claims may be for compensatory damages and punitive damages.
If the party causing the injury was a drunk driver, then you may claim punitive damages in some cases. These damages go beyond compensatory damages. They are designed to punish the drunk driver for that person’s conduct.
In Virginia if the drunk driver has a blood alcohol content that exceeds .15 and at the time of the crash that driver knew or should have known that he was or would be impaired and his conduct caused injury to you then you may receive punitive damages.
For more information on drunk drivers, see the pages on Wikipedia. Call, or contact us for a free consult.
Car Crashes – Hit and Run May Invoke Uninsured Coverage
Hit and run cases are all too common. They involve the at fault driver leaving the scene of the crash. If you did not get the name or tag number of that driver then your claim is an uninsured claim. This is a claim made under that part of your policy.
This type of claim must be submitted to your own insurance carrier. If you cannot settle with your own insurer, then a lawsuit should be filed against the hit and run driver as John Doe with your insurer being served with a copy of the suit papers. Your insurer has a right to defend John Doe if they desire and fight the claim just as if the hit and run driver were present. In the alternative, what most carriers do is they appear in their own name and not in the name of the John Doe or at-fault driver. This creates an odd situation. Your insurer is fighting your claim and defending the empty chair of the hit and run driver.
Car Crashes – Distraction Due To Social Media
Using phones or other such devices while driving is a common cause of crashes. It applies to both young and old. It may even be reckless driving. Although one judge in Fairfax County found that in at least one case texting while driving was not reckless driving.
On May 15, 2011 a young man by the name of Jason Gage rear ended a car that had been driven by another young man by the name of Kyle Rowley. Rowley had run out of gas on Route 7 and was pushing his car off to the side of the road. Gage hit him from behind.
Gage was not speeding. He had opened a text message about the time of the crash. The police charged him with reckless driving. At trial, in the Fairfax District Court, the judge dismissed the case because the 2009 Virginia law dealing with texting makes it a minor traffic infraction with a $20.00 fine. As such, that alone could not be reckless driving.
Distraction As A Basis For Punitives
Looking at your phone may be one of the bases for a punitive claim. We all speed at times. We all forget to use our turn signals at times. That is just negligence. When you look at your phone that is a conscious choice. Combine speed with the choice of looking away from the road at your phone and you may have punitives. It is that choice that makes the difference.
Texting Studies
There are studies dealing with texting and cell phone usage. All of them conclude that such usage distracts the driver from the road. In fact, a study from Virginia Tech states that texting drivers are 23 times more likely to crash.
Most states have banned texting while driving. Virginia has. The U.S. has called for a ban on cell phone usage behind the wheel.
Virginia’s texting law, however, is a secondary offense. This means that a police officer can only charge the driver with that offense if the officer pulled him over for some other offense.
Car Accident-Highway Defects
Roadway Drop-off And Car Accident Cases
Roadway drop off injury cases arise where a car leaves the travel portion of the roadway onto a sunken shoulder. The driver then attempts to reenter the roadway by pulling the front wheels at a sharp angle. The car, in effect, slingshots across the road or rolls over. A drop-off of two inches, or sometimes even less, can cause such loss of control. On highways where the speed limit is 55 or more a drop-off of even one inch can cause fatal results.
There Are Standards That May Apply To Roadway Drop-Off Cases
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has stated that well-designed shoulders are needed on any busy roadway. Most drivers when faced with a sudden drop-off attempt to reenter the travel lane. They would be better off simply going with the flow, i.e. going straight ahead.
In handling a vehicle drop-off case you must find the cause of the drop-off. For instance, the drop-off may be due to tractor trailers running their wheels over the road edges. Or it may may be due to school buses or trucks compacting a shoulder to cause a drop-off. It could be due to rain wearing away loose material on the road’s edge.
Source of the Drop Off
You must find the source of the drop-off in order to sue the at fault party. Call, or contact us for a free consult.
Sources of info in regards to the cause of the drop-off are:
- Locals who have knowledge of the cause.
- Contracts and rules dealing with the construction of the roadway.
- The Federal Highway Administration’s Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices has sections dealing exclusively with drop-offs.
- AASHTO publishes specs, protocols and guidelines dealing with drop-offs. Their Green Book may be helpful.
- The FHA’s Standard Specifications for Construction of Roads and Bridges on Federal Highway Projects provides some guidance on drop-offs.
- The AAA has published an analysis of crash figures that may likewise be helpful.
Car Accident Dead Mans Curve
Dead mans curve is no overstatement. Many places have winding, steep stretches of road where crashes claim the lives of guiltless drivers. These stretches of road, sometimes called dead mans curve, can be fatal.
If you’ve had such a crash there are facts you need to know.
The public bodies that design roads must exercise reasonable care in doing so. In that regard roadways need what are called recovery zones so that a driver who wanders off the road has a chance to return safely. Likewise, guardrails are designed to direct stray cars if there are objects that make reentry a problem. Other such safety devices such as rumble strips provide warning to drivers who have left the main travel surface. In addition, warnings of hazards are needed to alert drivers to dangers ahead.
Dead Mans Curve Can Be Contained Through Rails
Guardrails alongside many of our roads and highways serve a dual purpose. They tell the driver about the course of the roadway ahead. They also serve to direct a car back onto the pavement before it leaves the travel surface. A guardrail is required if a car could be expected to leave the roadway and there is lack of room for the driver to come back.
Jersey barriers serve a purpose like guardrails but they are used in high traffic areas.
A guardrail fails its purpose if the upright posts are too far apart. This makes the guardrail too weak to contain the car. Guardrails sometimes are a means of impaling a driver if the car strikes the end of a guardrail.
Dead Mans Curve Can Be Contained Through Banking
The speed at which a curve can be safely traveled can be measured by using a ball-swing test. This is a device that is mounted on a car and records the swing of a suspended ball as the car makes the curve at varied speeds. This may be a helpful test to prove the fault on the part of the body that designed the roadway.
Another feature of highway design is proper banking. Banking refers to the way that a road is tilted in order to allow for centrifugal force. This force can cause a car to leave the road. Defective banking, as seen in sinking, may be a product of the age of the roadway.
Books Dealing With Highway Defect Cases
Some important books to review in evaluating cases like this are the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Maintenance Manual. Also the Roadside Design Guide, the Traffic Engineering Handbook and the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices. Call, or contact us for a free consult.
Car Accident Railroad Crossing
Railroad crossing crashes require a detailed knowledge of how railroads operate. Reports will be filed not only with the local police department but with the Federal Railroad Association and the National Transportation Safety Board. Those reports must be obtained.
You must obtain not only the name of the railroad but who owns, controls and has the right-of-way of the tracks and who owns the property next to the tracks. The car or truck involved in the crash needs to be preserved.
Standards for Railroad Crossing Crashes
What standards apply to the crash and to the crossing devices may be found in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. Also the American Association of State Highway Officials’ Geometric Design Standards may be helpful. Any prior crashes at this crossing can be found through a FOIA request to the Federal Railroad Administration. That agency numbers each crossing. The number can be found on the crossbuck pole or on one of the warning devices at the crossing. That number will allow you to gain access to any crashes at that crossing, federal funding for that crossing and other data.
The Railroad Crossing Scene of Crash
In handling railroad crossing cases you must retain a surveyor to survey the area around the crash for a distance of probably a half mile.
Plus you need to obtain from the railroad:
- reports of any prior crashes or notices relating to that crossing
- operating instructions and manuals governing railroad employees
- any event recorder printouts
- any information relating to track profiles
- train braking system information
Research Sources for Auto Crashes
Some good sources for info about auto safety are:
- The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. This is an great website that provides data about highway safety.
- The Center for Auto Safety. This provides news about auto design problems and also has data as to lemon laws that protect people who purchase autos.
Don’t hesitate to contact Brien Roche Law. Mr. Roche for over 40 years has served the vehicle accident needs of Fairfax and Northern Virginia.
For more information about vehicle accidents see the other pages on this site.
Call, or contact us for a free consult. Also for more info on car accidents see the Wikipedia pages.