Category: Car Accident

On the way to work today at New York and New Jersey streets in Indy a white car ran a red light and I saw it about 24 inches in front of me as I was entering intersection on a green light…. 

I missed him. The car to my right was not so lucky and a hard crash occurred.  I pulled over , stopped , called 911 and headed back to aftermath of the crash. I talked to driver of car beside me ( who did nothing wrong) and went to other driver (who ran the red light )and  who was talking to a police officer. The light runner’s story to police was that he was just following the flow of traffic and that he got hit. I gave the officer my card and told him that guy ran the red light . Point is no one else stopped and if I had not stopped it could have been a police report with each driver saying they had a green light. In these times when no one wants to accept responsibility when they make a mistake and don’t feel the need to tell the truth it is important to stop and be a witness.  When I heard the light runner give his story to the police it reminded me of many such stories I have heard over the years from defendants that I was deposing .  Sad state of affairs.

My older readers may remember this slogan as a part of an anti drug campaign in the 1960’s. It is also true as it applies to automobile accidents. I would modify it to read as “Speed kills and maims”. Increased speed increases stopping time and stopping distances. Increased speed increases the likelihood of serious personal injury and death. Did you know that as a driver doubles the cars speed, the driver quadruples the stopping distance of the car. A drivers reaction time is generally thought to be between 1 second and two seconds depending on the facts of the event. This means that a driver traveling 35 miles per hour will have between one and two seconds to recognize a hazard and react to that hazard, hit the brakes and take evasive action. A car travelling 35 mph is travelling approximately 51 feet per second. This the driver will travel between 51 and 102 feet before they can do anything to avoid a collision. Now take a car going seventy miles per hour. That car is travelling 102 feet per second and will travel 204 feet before the drive even touches the brakes. When the driver does hit the brakes it will take the car four times the distance to stop as the car travelling 35 miles per hour.

So you can see that traveling faster raises the chances of not being able to see a hazard. It increases the distance the car will travel while the driver reacts and it increases the amount of distance a car will travel after the driver reacts. All of this increases the likelihood that a car crash will occur, where if the car was being at a safe slower speed, the crash will likely not occur. If you have to be somewhere at a certain time, give yourself plenty of time to get there. If you have teenagers talk to them all the time about the fact that speed kills. I know teenagers can be hard to talk to but they do listen and some of what you say will sink in. Thanks for listening.

John P. Young

Fall is a time to enjoy the great outdoors and in Indiana we are blessed with a change of seasons that reminds us each season’s particular beauty. Safety when traveling can avoid accidents and injuries.

When preparing to take a road trip be sure to check your headlights, taillights and turn signals. Examine your wiper blades and change if necessary. Don’t forget your tires. Inspect them and check the air pressure.. Include the spare in that inspection. You want make sure all doors work properly and that the air conditioner and heating systems works properly as well. Be sure to check the fluid levels including coolant, oil, transmission fluid , brake, power steering and windshield washer fluids. Finally be sure to prepare or update your emergency road kit.. Make sure you have your cars manual, a flashlight, extra batteries, jumper cables , tire pressure gauge,  a signal flag, blanket, umbrella, cell phone, pencil , notebook and gloves.

A few moments of prevention  now can provide hours of comfort  and lowered stress levels if the need arises. These steps can help you avoid auto accidents. Accident and injury prevention can be greatly increased by following these few precautions as you and your family hit the road and explore the great fall outdoors.

I have been very vocal about distracted driving.  It is as bad as a drunk driving accident.  Now I want to share with you a sad tale involving a detracted driver.  To make things worse, the distracted driver was driving a semi tractor-trailer at the time he was driving distracted and predictably caused a distracted driver collision.

A group of young people were on their way to a concert in another state.  The young people were in 3-4 separate cars, and they were in a kind of caravan.  In the rear of the line of cars was a young man, about 27 years old.  He worked for a major retailer and his talents were just being recognized.  You see he had a gift for using the computer and an eye for how to use that gift to make his employer more efficient and profitable.  He was driving his girlfriends van.  The young woman was  skilled at her marketing job, and the future looked so bright for these two.  They were exactly what Hoosiers take pride in, they were smart, hard working, and committed. They were looking forward to the concert and spending time with their friends. They were looking forward to a life promised by the American Dream.

They were in a another state.  They were on a major highway.  They realized traffic was slowing in front of them and they braked.  The problem up front was a collision.  They brought their van to a stop behind their friends at the rear of a long line of cars who were also stopped.  Unknown to these young lovers, a semi tractor-trailer was barreling down upon them at highway speed.  The driver, was distracted, looking either at a phone or other media delivery device.  The driver did not notice that traffic was stopped.  The driver realized too late that traffic stopped.  The semi tractor-trailer smashed into the van.  We want to think that the young couple suffered their wrongful death instantly.  We just don’t know.  The van exploded into flames.  The semi tractor-trailer continued its carnage, blasting into other cars causing serious personal injury to many others including serious burns, broken bones and brain or spinal cord injuries.

All this carnage wrought because one man could not keep his eyes on the road and away from his phone.  A mother is left to grieve.  She endures the weight of this loss.  She hears herself saying to other parents, I hope you never know this pain, and cannot fathom that this is her life, her loss, her burden for the rest of her life.

Don’t cause drunk driving accidents- Just don’t drive drunk.  Don’t cause distracted driving accidents- put the phone down.

John P. Young

Two people were suffered wrongful death in a head on collision in Madison County last night. At least three people were flown by life line helicopter as a result of serious personal injury. According to news reports Lukas D. Green of Muncie Indiana crossed the centerline and collided head on with the car driven by an as yet identified driver. It is not clear why Mr. Green crossed the centerline. This presents another reminder to all Hoosiers that distracted driving kills and maims. Distracted driving includes a wide range of behaviors which take the drivers full attention away from the road. Distracted driving may include talking on a cell phone, texting, reaching to the floor board for a dropped item, turning around to talk to someone in the rear seat and driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

I say that distracted driving includes drunk drivers and impaired drivers because numerous studies show that texting impairs a drivers concentration just as much as alcohol. Parents, take this time to have that discussion with your children. Distracted driving, in any form is dangerous and potentially deadly.

We wish the injured passengers a full and speedy recovery. We are saddened by this awful loss of life. Be careful out there.

John P. Young

Put down your phone, and drive. As I ride my bike I see many motorists who do dumb things. Most of these folks are using a cell phone. I see many folks with the phone to their ear, but I also see people looking at their phones. I do not know what they are doing, texting or surfing the web, but I do know they are being distracted from their primary responsibility, driving safely. Many of these folks drop their phone into their lap when they see me watching them. This indicates they know what they are doing is wrong. I guess it is going to take a tragedy in their lives before they learn their lesson. Unfortunately, the tragedy will be the wrongful death or serious personal injury of another Hoosier.

Although I do not know if distracted or drunken driving was a contributing factor in the injuries of two bicyclists, there is a high probability one or the other was the cause of the injuries. On Saturday, Jordin Ross, age 15 was struck by a car while riding his bike near Fall Creek Parkway and 30th street. He remains in critical condition at Riley Hospital upon last report. On Friday August 16, 2013 Alex Volz age 12 was struck by a car while riding his bike in the 7200 block of Southeastern Ave. It is likely that Mr. Volz suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of the impact. We hope that both Mr. Volz and Mr. Ross recover fully from their injuries.

Put down your phone, pay attention to your driving. Be careful.

John P. Young –

We all see it travelling on our highways. An overloaded pickup truck hits a bump on the road and out flies a part of its payload into the path of oncoming cars travelling at 65 miles per hour. Most of the time the cars behind the problem avoid the object and move on down the road. Not so all the time. Yesterday, a hay bale fell off a truck on Highway 46 in Bartholomew county. The bale hit a motorcycle traveling in the opposite direction causing the motorcycle to crash. Two Hoosiers William Eland III and his wife Lindsay Eland were on that bike when the hay bale struck Mr. Eland causing serious personal injury. Mr. Eland was air lifted to Methodist Hospital. He was, at last report, in critical condition. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Elands.

As with many objects flying off of other vehicles, the Elands had no time to react. However, the person who placed the bale on the truck knew that if the object, in this case a bale of hay but it could be any kind of object, flew off the truck travelling at highway speed, it would act like a missile causing serious personal injury and possibly wrongful death. Because that driver knows this, he/she is obligated to use reasonable care to make sure that all objects on the truck do not escape.

This is the basis of our civil justice system. If you know that something you are doing will likely cause serious personal injury to another unless you use reasonable care, then you are obligated to use that reasonable care to make sure others are not harmed. This only makes sense. It is essentially the Golden rule. You do not want to be hurt by someone else not using reasonable care. In turn you are obligated to use reasonable care not to injure another.

John P. Young –

We send our thoughts and prayers to Indiana State Police Officer First Sgt. Jon Watson. Trooper Watson was injured on I-70 when a vehicle, while attempting to change lanes, moved into a space occupied by Trooper Watson. Trooper Watson lost control and crashed. He suffered serious personal injury including fractures in several places in his leg and abrasions. We wish Trooper Watson a speedy recovery.

Lets use this experience as a teaching moment for us all. The best way to avoid automobile collisions, and motorcycle collisions is, as the driver, to be aware of your surroundings at all times. This means to continually scan your surroundings for other vehicles. We all know that a vehicle, whether it be a car or a motorcycle can enter your blind spot where your mirrors are not effective at indicating their presence. However, a continually scanning driver has a better chance of seeing the other vehicle because the scanning driver sees the vehicle before it enters the blind spot. In addition to continually scanning, a quick turn of the head to the right, when entering the lane to the right will, in most cases reveal the presence of the motorcycle or other car.

We know that most motorcycle/automobile collisions happen because the driver of the car does not see the motorcycle. Knowing this means that we must be all the more careful to look for the motorcycle on the road. Put down your phone, pay attention to the road. Doing so will help everyone else get home safely and it will also relieve you of the guilt of making a mistake that causes another Hoosier serious personal injury or wrongful death.

John P. Young –

Over my twenty five plus year career representing motorcyclist injured in collisions, I hear the same response from those responsible for the motorcycle crash, “I didn’t see the motorcycle”.  This moment of inattention causes the most serious personal injuries to those on the bike including broken bones, spinal cord injuries resulting in paralysis, brain injury, amputations and wrongful death.  I also hear from these same people that they wish they had the chance to do it over again, they would have done things differently.  They would not have rolled the stop sign.  They would have taken that extra second to look again before turning left in front of the motorcycle.  They would have looked twice over their shoulder before they moved into the lane next to them where the motorcycle was in the their blind spot.

I also hear them say that they are sorry, that they will never forgive themselves, that they cannot believe what has happened.  They cry for the ones they hurt, but their tears cannot and will not give back the little girl her father who has died a wrongful death.  Their wishes will not give back the ability to walk and earn a living to the rider with the spinal cord injury dealing with paralysis.  Their anxiety will not give clear thought back to the brain injured cyclist.

I ask you, for your own mental well being, and for the health and welfare of all those riding a motorcycle, for all those riding a bicycle, for all those using the road, slow down, take that extra second to look for danger, see what is there to be seen.  Get home safely, and allow everyone else to do the same.

John P. Young –

In most emergency situations if you give some consideration to what you will do if you are confronted with the emergency, you will be able to deal with the issues more efficiently.  This is especially true of automobile collisions, motorcycle accidents and semi tractor-trailer collisions.  There is always a good chance that you will be seriously hurt in the collision, which makes it even more difficult to think clearly.  We offer the following information which we found on the State of Indiana BMV website.

It is essential to remain calm.  Check your breathing and try to get control of your thoughts.  You are likely to be in shock, which might make thinking clearly and calmly more difficult.

Before taking any other action, check yourself and other individuals involved in the accident for injuries. If there are any injuries or at least $1,000 in property damage, call the police.

Cooperate with law enforcement officers, and ask the investigating officer how to obtain a copy of the police report.

Take notes. Be sure to provide and obtain the following information:

• Names, addresses, and phone numbers of all drivers and passengers involved in the accident;
• License plate number, make, model, and a description of each car involved;
• Operator license number and insurance identification information of all      drivers involved;
• Names and addresses of as many witnesses as possible;
• Names and badge numbers of all police officers at the scene.

We suggest that you add to this list that if you cannot do these things, ask someone to do them for you if you can.  We have seen it happen very often that the police do not obtain all the names of the witnesses at the scene.  They might get a few, but not all.  Your task it to get the identifying information from all witnesses.  You never know who will have seen what.

Contact your insurance provider as soon as possible. Ask them to file a Certificate of Compliance (COC) covering the date of the accident in the vehicles involved. Failure to submit proof of insurance after an accident may result in the suspension of your driving privileges regardless of who is at fault.

Do not give a statement to the insurance company for the person who caused the collision until they agree present their insured for a statement at the same time as they obtain a statement from you.  Afterall it is only fair that if they want your statement, you should be able to obtain a statement from their insured, who is the person you think caused the collision and your injuries.

If you have any questions about your rights, please call us.  Our free consultation may be able to relieve you of the anxiety of dealing with these issues.

John P. Young –

We all rent cars and trucks to transport us on vacations and to help us move our stuff from here to there. Sometimes we get into automobile collisions or truck accidents while renting these vehicles. I want to take just a minute to point out some pitfalls associated with insurance and rental cars.

As we all know you can purchase insurance when you rent the car. It is always a question as to whether you should buy the insurance. If you do not own a car then you definitely need to purchase the insurance. Why you ask? Well if you own a car, I presume it is insured. If your car is insured, your insurance will most likely cover the rental car as well. I do not say it will always cover the rental car because some policies exclude coverage for a rental car. So you must read your policy carefully in order to know whether your policy will cover the rental. If you read the policy (and don’t fall asleep) but still do not know whether your policy covers the rental car, then I recommend that you purchase the coverage from the rental company.

If you do purchase the insurance from the rental company, then you must know that insurance will only cover the listed drivers on the rental contract. What I mean is this. Say you go to Florida with your spouse and rent a car. The rental company tells you that it will cost extra to have an additional driver on the car (They make more money this way). So, you being the frugal renter decide to only list yourself as a driver. You arrive at your destination, take your things into the rental property and then realize that your spouse forgot their bathing suit. So, your spouse, the one not listed as the driver takes the car to the swim suit store. On the way there is a collision. This is when you find out that because your spouse was not listed as a driver on the rental car the collision is not covered by the policy you purchased when renting the car. So be real careful about how you set up the rental agreement and the insurance, and make sure you stick with your agreement. Good luck, and be safe.

John P. Young –

Are You A Medicaid or SSI Recipient & Involved in a Serious Accident?

Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Sometimes a good driver is in the path of a drunk driver and becomes seriously injured in the drunk driving accident. Some times that good driver is in a semi tractor-trailer collision and suffers a broken bone, a brain injury, paralysis because of a spinal cord injury. If that person is a Medicaid recipient, or a recipient of Supplemental Security Income because of the injuries they sustain in the car accident, a monetary settlement may make that same person ineligible for those vital programs.

Are Any Options Available In Order To Receive Compensation For Damages?

As you know, in order to be eligible for Medicaid, you cannot have more than $1,500.00 in assets. If you do, you must spend those assets down to $1,500.00 in order to be eligible for the Medicaid program. To make things even more difficult, those assets must be spent won to the $1,500.00 level in the same month they are received, or that person will be ineligible for Medicaid. There are similar asset provisions for SSI (Supplemental Security Income). This is so because Medicaid (not Medicare) and SSI are entitlement programs. As such the asset restrictions are designed to prevent the use of the program by those with assets which can and should be used for medical care.

There is An Option called the ARC of Indiana Trust

If, however, you are a Medicaid or SSI recipient you have an option. That option is the ARC of Indiana Trust. I am providing the reader with two website addresses which will allow you to get a better understanding of the benefits of the trust:

• www.thearctrust.org
• www.arcind.org

What Does the ARC of Indiana Trust Do?

The ARC of Indiana Trust helps injured Hoosiers by taking control of the money they receive from their settlement, which would otherwise be required to be spent down to maintain eligibility for Medicaid or SSI. By taking control of the money, the trust relieves the injured party of the spend down provisions of the two programs so that all the money can be used to improve the quality of life of the injured Hoosier. The trust will make payouts to the injured Hoosier to supplement costs of living and health care.

John P. Young –

I ride my bike to work about two times per week. I do it for the exercise, to reduce my carbon footprint and to enjoy the fresh air.  I love it.  One of the unexpected consequences of riding is that I see drivers from a whole different perspective.  I see, for the most part down into their cars and can see what they are doing with their hands.

Let me step back a minute and tell you why I am telling you the above. Distracted driving causes auto accidents. Car crashes cause serious personal injuries such as broken bones, brain injury, spinal cord injuries, and even wrongful death. Serious personal injury causes people to lose time from work and cause the injured person to not be able to provide for their families. All this leads me to conclude that distracted driving is bad and must be avoided. I understand that distracted driving (using the cell phone, texting, et cetera) impairs the drivers attention to the road to the same extent that alcohol impairs a drivers mind resulting in drunk driving collisions. We know that drunk driving is bad, lets also know that distracted driving is bad.

Now let me get back to what I see on my bike. I see drivers doing dumb things including rolling stop signs when children are present. I see people changing lanes without signaling and cutting off other drivers. I see people moving into lanes when there is a car already there. I see drivers turn left out of the right lane. I see much much more. What is the common theme among all these actions, about 60 percent of the people who are making these dumb maneuvers are staring at a cell phone. They think they are clever by holding the phone low in the car so that the police and other drivers can’t see it. They keep looking up and down as if everyone can’t tell what they are doing. While they are doing this they become engrossed in the phone and forget what is on the road near them. God help the rest of us.

What these people are actually saying is this “What’s good for me is good, it does not matter how it affects you or anyone else.” Of course this myth is shattered when they miss a stop sign and kill a family member.

Please do not text and drive.

John P. Young –