In Indiana we must drive in the snow for three to five months out of the year. Driving in the snow does not reduce the amount of care a driver must use in order to drive safely. We are all bound to use reasonable care when driving. This means that in snow, we must drive a little slower, give ourselves more time to get where we are going and put a little more distance between ourselves and the driver in front of us. We must use care to remove the ice and snow from our windows, so that our vision is not blocked. We must remover accumulations of snow and ice from around our head lights and brake lights to increase our visibility and increase the chances of being seen by other drivers. We must ensure that our tires have a good tread to give us as much traction as we can get on the snow. We must slow down farther away from stoplights and stop signs so that we do not slide into the intersection. We must make sure we have sufficient wiper fluid in the reservoir so that when the salt collects on our wind shield we can effectively wipe it away.
As always, we must not drink and drive. Drunk driving collisions are more frequent in the snow because the drunk driver has even less control and reaction time.
Take your time, give yourself plenty of room and give the other driver a break. If we do we can all get where we are going safe and sound.
As Indiana’s Social Security Lawyer, I am often asked how to file for social security benefits. There are three ways an application may be filed. They are, in no particular order, Online at www.ssa.gov, in person at your local social security office, or an over the phone interview. Regardless of which method you choose, a little preparation will make the process a little easier for everyone. This preparation will also increase your chances of being successful in your application.
I advise my clients to make four lists. The first list is a list of your health care providers with name, address, and telephone number. As we have discussed in the past, the Social Security Administration requires documentation of your disability. This documentation is necessarily medical documentation. Therefore, having your health care providers at your finger tips will make the application process easier and will increase your chances of earning a favorable decision earlier. The next list is a list of your medications, what they are prescribed to treat and what side effects you have as a result of the medications. Side effects from certain medications can be as disabling as the disease they are intended to treat, so be complete in listing the side effects. Third list is a list of your employers for the last 15 years with addresses, and telephone numbers. This list should include a short description of the physical requirements of your job, like how much you had to lift, how much you had to walk, sit and stand. The final list is a list of the injuries, illnesses or diseases which you contend cause you to be disabled.
Of course there is other information you must provide, but having these lists will be of great help to you. Good Luck.
Assume you are driving towards an intersection. You have the green light. A police officer is on the intersecting road responding to a trespassing call, with his lights on, but no siren. You cannot see the officer because of a large building that comes almost entirely up to the intersection. You collide with the officer, who makes no attempt to stop or slow and you are suffer serious personal injuries. Your injuries may include broken bones, paralysis, brain injury and possibly wrongful death. You are comforted by the fact that you had the right of way (the green light) and the officer did not try to stop, his insurance will pay for your injuries, right? Not necessarily.
Employees of Indiana governmental entities (like cities, towns, townships, etc) are protected by immunities not available to the common citizen. In our example, because the police officer was “enforcing a law” the governmental entity he/she works for may be entitled to immunity from liability for his negligence. The officer himself cannot be held personally liable to you because of another law which prevents such claims. There are at least 16 different immunities under the Tort Claims Act protecting governmental entities from liability for the negligent acts of its employees. If you would like to read the act it can be found at Indiana Code 34-13-3 and following.
There is a dirty little secret about drunk driving accidents in Indiana. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has done a tremendous job educating the public about the dangers of drunk driving accidents. Drunk Driving Accidents cause serious personal injury and wrongful death. Its affects reach to the families who lose their loved ones or who must become caregivers to those no longer able to do for themselves because of the injuries caused by drunk driving accidents. As we all know, a drunk driver is not a responsible member of society and may not have enough insurance to pay for the harm they cause. That is why, at Young and Young, we recommend that you make sure you have at least enough in “Medical Payments Insurance” to pay the deductible on your health insurance policy. This protects you against out of pocket expenses. Second, we recommend that you purchase as much Uninsured Motorist Coverage/Underinsured Motorist Coverage AS YOU CAN AFFORD. This insurance will pay for the damages you have, but for which the drunk driver does not have enough insurance to cover your losses and harms.
Now for the dirty little secret. You probably know that bars can be held responsible for harm to a person if they serve a person alcohol who is visibly intoxicated, and that person drives off from the bar and causes serious personal injury or wrongful death. What you don’t know is that the bars are not required to maintain insurance which will pay for your damages if the bar serves a visibly intoxicated person and that person causes a drunk driving accident. We do not have statistics as to how many bars do and do not carry this coverage, but we do know that a substantial number of bars do not carry such insurance. This means that the injuries you suffer at the hands of the drunk driver who was over served at a bar will fall to you and your family. The bar continues to make money, but you can’t work, you have huge medical bills and your family suffers. We do not think this is right. You may say, well isn’t it really the drunk drivers fault? And the answer is that the drunk driver is to blame, but, if the drunk is in the bar, and is visibly intoxicated, they must not be served and caused to become even more drunk. We encourage all bars to car liability insurance which will cover the harms caused by this kind of negligence. We also encourage bars to properly train their employees to take seriously their obligation to identify visibly intoxicated persons, and not serve them.
As an Indiana serious Personal Injury Lawyer, representing injured Hoosiers all over the State of Indiana out of our Indianapolis personal injury law offices, I often hear from my prospective clients, people who have been seriously injured by the negligence of others, “I am not sue happy, I just want what is fair.” Initially I tell my clients, some of whom are still in the hospital when I see them, bedridden with broken bones, brain injury, spinal cord injury, burn s and dog bites, that most Hoosiers are not sue happy. Most Hoosiers just want what’s fair. I tell them that their concern over being “sue happy” is the result of vested interests in making people feel that if they asking for what’s fair they are sue happy. I mean really, who stands to gain if people are afraid of being sue happy, so they do not make a claim. I will tell you, it is the insurance industry. Have you ever looked around your town at whose names are on the biggest buildings? In my town it is insurance companies. Why, because they make money hand over fist, They make even more money if they can convince honest people that they are sue happy for asking what’s fair. I know there are a lot of lawyers advertising on TV and it reflects very poorly on all of us as a profession. However, compare the amount of lawyer advertising with the number of Allstate, Progressive, State Farm, etc. you see on TV. And do not be fooled, lawyers are not spending as much as beer and car companies to sponsor college bowl games.
So whenever you hear anyone say your insurance rates are too high because of lawsuits, ask them where they gets their facts. My guess is they will be able to give you no facts. They will simply spout back what they have heard or read from untrustworthy sources. Then think, well wouldn’t my rates be lower if the companies were not spending so much on TV advertising, sponsoring car races and bowl games? Resist the urge to follow the crowd. Demand proof. Defend your mother, who I know taught you to make up for any harm you do. If you spill the milk, clean it up. If you break a window, fix it or pay to have it fixed. If you do not use care in your life and it causes injury to another- Drunk driving, failing to stop at a stop sign, build a scaffold wrong, make up for the harm by demanding that your insurance company does right by the person who was hurt. Demand the insurance company does right by the injured person’s family.
I have been representing seriously injured Hoosiers for 23 years. We handle all different types of automobile collision cases. One thing that is common to most collisions, whether they be automobile crashes, truck crashes, or semi tractor-trailer crashes is impaired sight. We see serious personal injury arise out of drivers not seeing motorcyclists and turning into their path. Many times people will not look over their left shoulder to check their blind spot, enter the lane to their left and hit the car properly in that lane. People turning right at an intersection will look to their left to see if there are any oncoming car, but forget to look back to the right to see if there is a pedestrian.
.A couple of tips can help you drive safely. Make sure you have a scraper in your car so you can clear all the ice off your front, rear and side windows You have seen the guy driving with just a small area of the windshield cleared and none of the other windows cleared. This guy will run into something, because he can’t see. Keep plenty of washer fluid in the reservoir. Salt on the road builds up fast on the wind screen. When the sun hits that salt, you are blind. This is especially true when you are driving on the highway with the spray from large trucks covering your wind screen. Make sure you do not have any signs impairing your rear sight line.
Being able to see reduces the risk of causing a collision and seriously injuring, or causing the wrongful death, of your fellow Hoosiers.
We all know that Jets have a “Black Box” that is the subject of intense searching after any plane crash. The reason for the “black box” search is because the “black box” is a data recorder. It records information about the operation of the jet and its pilots and can help investigators reconstruct the events leading up to a crash and will, hopefully, assist investigators in figuring out what happened. Fewer people know that all modern cars are equipped with a “black box” or more particularly a data recorder. In automobile crashes causing serious personal injury, the data recording device may be the difference between knowing what actually happened in the crash and what witnesses say happened in the crash.
In my line of work as a auto accident attorney, we know that eye witness accounts of a collision often vary greatly about what happened in the car accident. Scientific studies. Barbara Tversky, in her article “The Problem with Eyewitness Testimony”, Stanford Journal of Legal Studies, April 1999, observed, “The mere fault of being human results in distorted memory and inaccurate testimony.” We humans are subject to memory bias and the introduction of false memories which interfere with our ability to accurately remember and repeat exactly what we have seen. So, what can be done about this problem? Retrieve the information from the data recording device for the cars, or trucks involved in the collision.
Modern automobile data recording devices record up to 20 seconds of information before any crash. The data recorded can include whether the passengers of the car were wearing seatbelts, the car speed at any point in that 20 seconds, the acceleration of the car in that 20 seconds, the percent of the engine throttle and gas pedal, when the brakes were activated, when the antilock braking device was activated and more. This information is very important, but any accident expert worth their salt will collect all the objective evidence at the scene of the car crash and compare it to the data on the recording device. The objective evidence includes the damage to each car, the final resting place of the cars after the impact, the direction the cars went upon impact, and other information. When the “black box” data matches up with the objective evidence at the scene of the collision the jury can be very confident that the data recording device is telling the accurate story about what happened in the crash. This is very important when eyewitnesses give contradicting versions of what happened.
Normally when we talk about brain injury, we talk about it in the context of serious personal injury from, for example, drunk driving accidents, large truck accident, construction accident and highway accidents. I want to talk today about brain injury in the context of the Social Security Administration’s guidelines for disability. You will remember from our previous discussions that there are two sets of rules used to determine whether a person is entitled to disability benefits; The Listings and The Medical Vocational Guidelines (The Grids). The listing specifically contains a listing for Brain Injury. It is in the Neurological section, Listing 11.18, Cerebral Trauma. As we also know medical documentation is crucial to establishing eligibility for disability. For brain injury, medical documentation of the acute phase (early on in the recovery) is usually easy to provide. However, ongoing evidence of treatment in the post acute phase of recovery is also essential.
This next part is for my readers who treat brain injury. You can be of great assistance to your patient if, when you are asked to provide a report documenting your opinions about the patient’s ability to work, you write the report to include references to the medical record that support your opinions and conclusions. Unsupported opinions carry little weight with the Social Security Administration. Even if your opinions are dead on accurate, if they are not supported by corresponding references to the record, you might as well have not taken the time to write the report. Please take your time when you write that report. An accurate report to the SSA is very important to your patient’s well being.
Brain injury which causes severe neurological affect, i.e. paralysis, dysphasia, severe executive dysfunction, etc are fairly straight forward in terms of proof. It is the brain injury which has responded well to treatment, but still leaves the survivor with subtle issues such as fatigue, short term memory loss and the need for increased completions times. These survivors also face the well known prejudice, “They look okay, they must be okay”. For these survivors, the report may well be the most important piece of evidence. I also suggest letters from failed work attempt employers and or failed class teachers. Many times survivor’s recoveries are significant, and relative to their immediate post injury condition, the patient is doing very well. This, however, does not always mean the patient is back to their pre injury function or that they can return to employment. So, doctors, you must explain in your reports that although the patient has improved significantly, that does not mean they are employable in a competitive job. You must point out why this is using references to your medical records. Otherwise it is too easy for the SSA to say, well they look good and the doc says they are much improved, they must be able to work.
Last year, in January and February, we had a series of ice storms that left thick ice on everything. Hospital emergency rooms were stretched to their limits with falls on ice resulting in broken bones, spinal cord injuries, severe strains, brain injuries, torn rotator cuffs and more. Thank goodness that this year we have not had to battle the ice yet. However, there is something about the law in the City of Indianapolis regarding sidewalks and snow and ice. Every property owner in the city is required to keep the sidewalks next to their property clear of snow and ice. If the property owner does not keep the snow and ice clear of snow and ice, they may be subject to fines. This law, however, creates no duty on the part of the landowner to keep the sidewalk clear for the benefit of pedestrians. If you encounter ice on a city sidewalk, left by a property owner, who has done nothing to clear it, do not think that they will be responsible for their actions. The law does not require them to clear it for anyone but the City.
The Social Security Administration requires that a claimant supply medical information to support the claim for Social Security Disability Payments and Supplemental Security Payments. This means that if you have a disabling condition, but you have not sought medical treatment, or the medical testing does not demonstrate a medical condition which would likely be causing the disabling condition, your chances of obtaining Disability benefits are markedly reduced. This poses a very difficult problem for those who are uninsured and have little or no funds to pay for medical treatment. Fortunately Medicaid is available to help obtain medical care. In Marion County Wishard Hospital offers care for the poor. Unfortunately the Medicaid program is overburdened as is the Wishard facility. This causes delay in obtaining medical care, and thus cause delay in obtaining medical evidence which will support a disability claim.
If you are fortunate enough to have insurance and have medical documentation of a disabling condition, the medical records alone may not be enough to prove your claim. In the case of chronic pain, or a brain injury, or chronic fatigue, often times the effect of the condition on the body is more severe than conventional testing can detect. In the case of pain, there is generally no objective test to support the claim. Thus the Administrative Law Judge will be forced to make a decision about whether he/she finds the claimant’s complaints “Credible”. The first step in this process is to determine whether the claimant has proof of a medically determinable impairment. The next step is to determine what symptoms, including pain, the impairment(s) is likely to produce. The third step is to determine what limitations the impairment(s) is likely to produce in terms of ability to lift, walk, sit, and stand. The next step is to obtain information from the claimant, in the form of testimony y, doctors records and test results. The ALJ compares the medical report information with the claimant’s testimony to see if they are consistent. If they are consistent, your credibility goes up. If they are inconsistent your credibility goes down. Being given less than full credibility can result in you being denied your benefits. The lesson here is to be fully honest with your doctors and the Administration. In that case, your credibility will likely go up and improve your chances of obtaining your disability benefits.
As your Indianapolis Social Security Lawyer, with more than 23 years of experience representing claimants before the Social Security Administration, I am always asked, “Do I need a lawyer to file my initial claim?” My answer is probably considered a typical lawyer answer, and that is it depends. If you are confident in dealing with bureaucrats, or are handy on the computer, and have reasonably good organizational skills then I would say you probably do need a lawyer for the initial application. If you are a little skittish, have memory problems or organizational issues, then it may be a good idea to have help at this phase.
There are a few ways to apply. In no particular order, you can apply online, over the phone or through an in person interview. If you require the assistance of a lawyer in applying I would assist you in applying on line. The Social Security Administration website is easy to use and helpful. You can access the site at www.ssa.gov. On the first screen there is a pull down tab for your application. Click on this tab and away you go. If you go to your local SSA office, you will apply in person. These folks are generally helpful and take some of the worry out of the application process. The down side is that you have to leave your home and the lines at these locations can be problematic.
No matter what method you choose to use, a few preparations will make the process less stressful. Make four lists. 1. List of medical care providers with addresses. 2. List of Medications with side effects. 3. List of all illnesses, injuries or diseases which cause you to be disabled, and finally, a list of your employers for the last 15 years. This is essential information that might escape you at the time of application.
If you have any questions, or help call John P. Young at 888-639-5161 or email Mr. Young at john@youngandyoungin.com.
As your Indianapolis Personal Injury Lawyer, representing Hoosiers all over the State of Indiana out of our Indianapolis offices, we think this is a very important topic, especially around the holidays. So many toys have small parts that can become apart from the toy, be picked up by your energetic toddler and go straight into the mouth. Candy, a huge part of the holiday is small and certainly will be put straight into the child’s mouth. They swallow, the part, or the candy gets stuck, and it is a race against time to open up the airway. The lack of oxygen can kill but it can also cause brain injury, injury to the esophagus and trachea, and damage to the lungs. As mom always said, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Young children put almost everything in their mouth, which makes the main goal of choking prevention to keep any small items that your child might choke on out of his mouth. This may mean occasionally getting on all fours and checking under the kitchen table and other furniture and behind coach cushions.
Know what to look for. Once you know what to look for the task is not so overwhelming. Some of the most common choking hazards include: whole grapes • peanuts and other nuts • popcorn • hard candy and chewing gum • hard foods, including raw vegetables • soft foods, such as large cubes of cheese, caramels, etc. • chewy foods, such as thick spoonfuls of peanut butter • uncut hot dogs • coins • marbles and small balls • small magnets • small batteries • balloons, which can be a choking hazard to kids under age eight when they put broken balloon pieces in their mouths or when they inhale intact balloons when trying to blow them up • safety pins, pen caps, and tacks • small toy parts that can fit inside a choke test cylinder or no-choke testing tube, which measures 1 1/4 inches wide by 2 1/4 inches long and simulates the size and shape of a young child’s throat, such as Lego building blocks, dice, beads, etc. • dry pet food
Of course this does not mean that all of these items should be banned from the home, but it does mean they should not be in an area where your child, especially those crawling around on the floor, will be. Some tips include always be aware of what you are feeding your child. If it is a hotdog, make sure the dog is cut into small enough pieces that they cannot become stuck in the throat. Supervise your children’s play and avoid age inappropriate toys. If you have older children playing with smaller items, make sure the younger children are not able to get hold of the small pieces.
Choking Prevention
In addition to regularly checking the floor, your car, and other areas where your child crawls, walks, and plays, other steps to keep kids safe from choking include that you:
Learn CPR and keep emergency numbers by the phone, learn the Heimlich maneuver, keep medications and vitamins out of reach in child resistant containers, childproof cabinets and drawers so that your kids can’t get to small items inside them, supervise kids when they are eating, cut foods, like grapes and hot dogs, into small, one-half inch pieces, avoid foods that are not age appropriate for toddlers and preschoolers, like chewing gum, hard candy, and nuts until they are at least four years old, don’t let your kids play with toys that are not recommended for their age, since they may have small parts and could be a choking hazard, keep your older kids toys out of reach of younger siblings, regularly inspect toys to make sure that parts aren’t going to break off and throw out any broken toys, supervise kids under age eight if they are playing with a balloon, keep uninflated balloons out of reach, and throw away balloons once they deflate or break, see your pediatrician if your child seems to have an episode of choking, recovers, but then develops a chronic cough, since that can be a sign that your child aspirated the item and it is still in his lung, Also be sure to supervise your kids when they are outside, at someone else’s home that may not be as well childproofed as your own, or at a store, as there may be many choking hazards around that your toddler or preschooler could pick up.
The holidays are a time to be of good cheer. Common at all parties is alcohol. Common to alcohol is drunk driving. Common to drunk driving are drunk driving accidents. Common to Drunk driving accidents are serious person al injuries including brain injury, broken bones, paralysis and even wrongful death. Common to serious personal injury is the devastating impact on families. Bread winners can’t work. Crushing medical bills drive Hoosiers into bankruptcy. Homes are lost. Families are splintered. All because someone does not have the restraint or sense to call a cab, or walk or let someone else have their keys.
For the sake of all Hoosier families, including your own, if you are going to be drinking, resolve beforehand that you will not drive. Keep a cab telephone number in your purse or wallet. Leave your car at home and take a cab both ways. Allow someone who has not been drinking to take your keys and drive you home. Do anything, but do not get behind the wheel drunk. Do not destroy your life and the lives of Hoosier families. Don’t drink and drive.
As a Serious Personal Injury Lawyerrepresenting seriously injured Hoosiers all over the State of Indiana from our Indianapolis offices, I see, everyday, people with agendas, trying to take away one of your constitutional rights. These are the same people who claim they adore the Constitution. These are the people who vigorously defend the intent of the Founding Fathers when it comes to Freedom of Religion, Right to Bear Arms and a few other of our Constitutional rights. I ask you, how can these people defend the intent of the Founding Fathers about some rights and bash them on others?
It may surprise you to know that the Founding Fathers thought so highly of a citizen’s right to ask a jury to determine fair compensation for their injuries, whether to their person, their property, their intellectual rights and so on, that they wrote the seventh amendment into the Bill of Rights. The Seventh Amendment states: In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
So why are our legislators infringing that right. Did you know that in securities cases arbitration is mandatory and the Right to a Trial by Jury is almost impossible. Did you know that there is a current effort by some special interest groups to abolish the right to trial by jury?
A serious personal injury to a wage earner is often times the most important event in that person’s life as well as the lives of their family. Broken bones, brain injury, paralysis and even wrongful death can devastate the welfare of that family unit. Requiring the negligent individual or corporation to fully make up for the harm they have caused is the right of the injured, as well as the taxpayer who will have to care for the person and the family if the responsible party does not meet their obligations. A Trial by Jury, as our Founding Fathers knew, is that check and balance which we all call fairness. Do not let anyone take that right from you, or from us!
Medical Protective President and CEO, Timothy Kenesey acknowledges that the perceived threat of law suits or litigation on health care costs is relatively small. Why is this important? It is important because as the CEO of one of, if not the, biggest medical malpractice insures in the world, Mr. Kenesey would know. It is important because it confirms what Trial Lawyers have said for years, lawsuits, which are filed to hold doctors responsible for their mistakes, are not the cause of rising health care costs. So, the next time you hear a politician use the threat of Litigation to justify your right to go to Court and ask for fair compensation, know that the politician is wrong. Know that allowing those who are hurt by another’s negligence is simply the right thing to do.
Did you know that the Social Security Administration not only allows a person to work while their application for benefits is pending, but encourages it? As a starting point, the Social Security Administration prefers that people work instead of receiving disability benefits. A working person contributes taxes, supports their families and helps the economy. A working person, statistically, will also live longer than a person receiving disability. This is not to say that the SSA begrudges anyone who is disabled receiving their due, but as an economic choice, it is better to have people working.
So, the Social Security Administration rules and regulations allow for trial work periods. If you apply for benefits, you may try to reenter the work force while your application is pending without prejudice to your application if you are unable to continue that work. The rules are contained in the Code of Federal Regulations, 20 CFR Sec. 1592. Under this provision, if you are unable to work for nine consecutive months, then this work will not be evidence that you are able to work. If you work more than 9 consecutive months then the work will be considered in making the disability decision. It is my experience that Administrative Law Judges look favorably on those with failed work attempts, especially in those cases where the judge’s discretion is key to the case. What I mean is if your claim is a “close call”, a failed work attempt may serve to increase the claimant’s credibility and give them the benefit of the doubt.
If you have a claim pending, are not currently represented, and have a question about attempting to work while your application is pending, please give a call. I may be able to answer your question quickly, and give you a little peace of mind.
I am a serious personal injury lawyer. You often hear me referred to as a Trial Lawyer. I represent Hoosiers when they have been seriously injured as a result of another’s negligence. If a Hoosier suffers an amputation, a brain injury or wrongful death, they often seek me out to help them achieve a modicum of justice. My guess is that you, the reader of this entry, are skeptical of my motivation and what I do. I ask you to examine why you feel the way you do about trial lawyers, if for no other reason then consider the following.
Our legislators (whose approval ratings are in the toilet) are consistently telling us that trial lawyers are greedy no good SOBs who live off the misery of others and interfere with our competitive abilities in the world market place. Now, these folks don’t come up with this vitriol on their own. They get it from vested interests whose goal it is to be free from the obligation of being responsible for the harm they cause, so as to maximize profits. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for maximizing profits, I just don’t think anyone, whether an individual, a corporation or a government should be able to do whatever they wish without being responsible for the harm they cause. My mother was right. Mom taught her children that being a good citizen, whether in our neighborhood, our city, our state or our country required us to be responsible for our actions. This included being responsible for making up for the harm we cause. She would be shamed if a law was passed giving her children protection from their actions, when those action hurt others.
If you agree with my mom, ask yourself, why should a corporation be protected and not be responsible for its actions?
Now, here comes the part about trial lawyers. Our Government is too big. We spend more money than we have. But the people need protection from those who would flaunt safety rules and regulations for their own gain. The simple, low cost answer is the trial lawyer. Trial lawyers do not require subsidies from the government. Trial lawyers hold wrong doers responsible for their actions. Trial lawyers take people and corporations to task for the harm they cause others. We do this at little or no cost to the tax payer. When people and corporations follow simple safety rules, we have less injury, fewer people out of work, fewer people on Medicare or Medicaid, and more people contributing to the welfare of society.
So I ask you again, do you really think that trial lawyers are the problem?
Car crashes cause serious personal injury. Injuries such as broken bones, brain injury, paralysis and amputations leave the injured person either unable to communicate or unclear in their thinking. The first thing to try and do at a collision scene is to stay calm. If you are seriously injured, do not worry about anything but your health. Follow the instructions of the emergency aid providers and let the police investigate the rest of the claim.
If you are not so seriously injured that you are able to walk and talk and think clearly, then we suggest that you give a concise statement of the facts to the investigating officer. Ask the officer to record the names of witnesses at the scene. You may exchange insurance information at the scene of the collision. If the other driver is not cooperating, do not force the issue. Allow the police to take care of it. However, you should record the license plate number and make and model of the other car.
Limit Discussion of the collision and talk only with the police or your claim handler.
If you receive a call, a visit, or a letter from an attorney or attorney’s office within the first thirty days of the collision, know that they cannot be trusted. They cannot be trusted because the rules of the Indiana Supreme Court prohibit such contact. If a lawyer, a law firm or one of their workers contacts you within that 30 days, know they are not honest and you must report them to the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission. Someone who would violate this rule cannot be trusted to work for you.
Give no statement to the insurance company for the person who caused the collision.
If you are injured seek medical attention and follow the doctor’s orders. It is difficult for those without insurance to obtain quality care, but do what you can.
If you have any questions about your rights, seek the advice of people you know and respect to locate and retain a lawyer. Experience counts, and your friends and family probably know a good lawyer with whom they have worked and trust.
In my experience, auto accidents do not just happen. Thus, to call car collisions accidents is a misnomer. What I mean is they are collisions usually caused by one of the drivers failure to follow the rules of the road. What about driving in bad weather, does that mean the collision is an accident, meaning no one is at fault? Well, every case is very fact sensitive, but in my experience most bad weather collisions, which cause serious personal injury and even wrongful death, are usually caused by someone’s failure to follow the rules of the road. One common negligent cause of bad weather collisions is being in too great a hurry. One thing everyone knows for sure when they are driving in ice and snow is that they are driving on ice and snow. Therefore, they must slow down. Speed limits on roads are devised to keep traffic safe and moving under optimal weather conditions. However, they do not mean that when the weather is bad that it is safe to travel at that speed. When ice and snow are on the road, slow down. Make sure you have enough room between you and the other car so that you can stop, or evade a collision.
A common negligent act is to drive with bald or significantly worn tires. We all know that tire treads give us better control in wet conditions as well as on snow and ice. If the tread is worn, or the tire is bald, you will have less traction and the chances of causing a collision are markedly increased. Serious personal injury including amputation, paralysis, broken bones and dislocations and brain injury occur when a driver loses control because tires are worn. Drivers must check their tire treads and change their tires according to manufacturer recommendations.
Never assume that we are at the mercy of the elements. There are many things we can do to protect ourselves, our families and others using the road. A little thought and a little caution will go far to keep everyone safe.
In my practice, as Indiana’s serious personal injury attorney, I see little children as in need of special protection. If you are driving down the road and you see a stop sign, you instinctively take your foot off the gas, you may coast a little, but you will move your foot to the break and stop at the stop sign, after all this is a rule of the road. It is a rule of the road that keeps everyone safe when we are moving 2000 plus metal objects down the road. If we think of the little child and the concept of the stop sign together we can see the wisdom in treating every little child as a stop sign.
We all know that small children do not understand the dangers associated with moving cars. We know they are impulsive and we know that even if they are carefully instructed about cars and streets, they may not always follow the rules that adults and older children will follow. Finally, we know that if a car hits a small child, serious personal injury and even wrongful death are likely results. So, I ask you to take the drive smart Kids Dart warnings seriously. One way to drive smart is to see every little child as a stop sign. If you are driving down the road, especially in a residential neighborhood, if you see a child, no matter how old, assume there are other, younger children around, even if you cannot see them.
You may not see them because they are behind cars or trees or other objects, or they are just so small they are hard to see. So, you see the child, you take your foot off the gas, you may coast, but as you approach the child, your foot moves towards the brakes. Maybe, even likely you will not come to a stop, but you are travelling at a speed which will allow you to stop instantly if a small child appears. No matter how important that meeting, no matter where you need to be, 2-3 extra minutes will not kill you. However, will you ever be able to forgive yourself if you seriously injure or cause the wrongful death of a small child?
NOTICE: No face-to-face meeting needed. You can remain safely in your home from case signup to settlement.
