Distracted Driving – Pedestrians Pay the Price
According to the Governor’s Highway Safety Association (GHSA), States reported 2,660 pedestrian fatalities for the first six months of 2016, compared to 2,486 deaths during the same time period in the previous year. Using this data and historic trends, GHSA estimates that there were 5,997 pedestrian fatalities in 2016. Potential factors contributing to this spike include a better economy, an increase in walking as a primary mode of transportation, and distraction due to growing use of smartphone technology.
Bottom Line:
Does the police officer have to do an accident report?
Many times I will have folks come in to my office shortly after a wreck to find out what their rights are. Often, they will have with them very little information about the other party in the wreck and just assume that the police report will have all the information they will need to set up a claim for there damaged car and their injuries.
Experience has taught us that sometimes the police officer doesn’t do a formal report, but simply has the parties exchange information at the scene. So, when does the law require the police officer to do a crash report?
Texas Transportation Code Sec. 550.062 states the following:
Sec. 550.062. OFFICER’S ACCIDENT REPORT. (a) A law enforcement officer who in the regular course of duty investigates a motor vehicle accident shall make a written report of the accident if the accident resulted in injury to or the death of a person or damage to the property of any one person to the apparent extent of $1,000 or more.
(b) The report required by Subsection (a) must be filed with the department not later than the 10th day after the date of the accident.
(c) This section applies without regard to whether the officer investigates the accident at the location of the accident and immediately after the accident or afterwards by interviewing those involved in the accident or witnesses to the accident.
Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 531, Sec. 3, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.
Upshot: Ask them to do a report, even if you think you are “OK”. It doesn’t take much to have more than $1000 of Property damage of a car in a wreck.
-Gregg O.
Causes of Wrecks in America – Easily Preventable
Results of careless driving, up close and personal………..
According to the National Safety Council, the top 3 causes of collision-related death are easily preventable:
Safety on the Road
- In 2015, more than 38,000 people died in motor vehicle crashes; some of these fatalities involved people who drive for a living. According to Injury Facts 2016, the Council’s annual report on unintentional injuries, the three biggest causes of fatalities on the road include:
- Alcohol (30.8%)
- Speeding (30%)
- Distracted driving (26%)
Bottom Line: Violators of the basic safety rules of driving are a danger to all of us.
Distracted Driving Kills….
According to Distraction.gov, In 2014, 3,179 people were killed, and 431,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers.
We have all seen drivers texting as we are going down the road. Heck, maybe you have done it yourself. But the consequences are get if there is a collision.
If you have young drivers in your home, talk to them about the dangers of distracted driving and ask them to take the pledge against texting and driving. It saves lives………..
Welcome to our new website!
This is our new, (hopefully improved!) website for Oberg Law Office. We specialize in auto collision cases, including claims against drunk drivers, texting drivers, and others who endanger us all by ignoring the safety rules we all must follow to keep the roads safe. If you have been injured by the carelessness of another driver, please give us a call. We are here to help!
Choose An Accident Attorney With Experience
Have you been injured in a car accident? Do you need a car crash attorney to help you with your accident injury claim?
Being involved in a car accident can be a traumatic experience. If you or someone you know has been injured in an auto accident, you need a lawyer right away.
Legal Representation By An Injury Attorney
Choosing the right personal injury lawyer for legal help after another party caused your auto accident injury can feel overwhelming. If you perform a search engine search, you will be presented with numerous links to car crash attorneys. But, how do you decide which attorney to choose? Making this important decision need not be a daunting task, or a stressful issue.
Common Injuries In A Car Accident
Auto accidents can result in many different injuries, such as neck injuries, spinal cored injuries, had and brain injuries. The type of injury sustained depends on the circumstances of the accident and the severity.
Settlements In A Car Accident Case
Being involved in an auto crash may be difficult for you in several different ways. You’ll have to deal with the physical injury sustained, as well as the emotional trauma. There is also the burden of filing a claim for your injury and handling the issues that may occur as a result of this case. An injury attorney can advise and guide you and handle all aspects of the claim process, including talking to, and negotiating with, the responsible party and their insurance company to obtain a fair and adequate compensation. If needed, the lawyer can even file a lawsuit to have the case resolved in court.
Experienced Injury Attorney
You or your loved one has sustained injuries in an accident. It is important to hire a lawyer who is well versed with personal injury cases, and how to obtain a fair and adequate compensation for clients. You need to contact a lawyer who has the compassion you need during this tough time. An accident attorney who has been practicing for many years will have the knowledge and expertise to provide top notch representation to you.
There are many accident attorneys with the expertise and knowledge to get you the fair settlement you deserve. Reliable attorneys also have the compassion to help their client through the process.
Liability For An Auto Accident Injury
Several factors are taken into consideration in establishing fault and liability in an auto crash. Experienced car crash attorneys have the expertise and knowledge to determine who pays for injuries or damages resulting from a car crash. For instance, speeding or making an illegal lane change or cutting in front of a motorist, can cause serious accident, resulting in sever injuries. The decision of who is liable for injuries or damages in an auto collision or crash can depend upon motor vehicle statutes.
Your lawyer can have his legal team conduct an investigation of your accident to determine what led to the collision or crash and therefore who should be liable for your injury or damages. With an experienced auto accident lawyer by your side, you can rest assured that your case will be handled appropriately.
Contact A Car Accident Attorney
If you think that another person’s negligence or action resulted in an accident that caused your injury, you should get in touch with an experienced car crash attorney to have your case reviewed.
Car accident injury cases are usually evaluated for free. When you contact an attorney’s office, the attorney will be able to let you know whether someone was reckless or negligent in causing injury to you, and what compensation you might be entitled to.
Medical And Legal Considerations Of Asbestos In The Workplace
Everyday you breath in trace amounts of a substance called asbestos, a silicate mineral that occurs naturally in the environment. While these trace amounts remain relatively harmless, extended exposure at significant levels can cause irreparable harm to health. Asbestos, a durable, heat and flame resistant fiber used in automotive, building, consumer, industrial, maritime and scientific products causes numerous diseases – two incurable – in extended exposure or short-term exposure at significant levels. If undisturbed, asbestos does not usually cause a problem. Its uses in industry, however, cause its fibers to loosen, become airborne. These breathable fibers can enter the lungs of those in the vicinity.
Who Uses Asbestos?
Many industries use this versatile fiber. Some jobs increase exposure to the substance. Those most significant exposures have occurred in the following fields:
- commercial and residential construction,
- commercial and residential demolition,
- commercial and residential renovation,
- HVAC repair,
- janitorial jobs in structures containing deteriorating asbestos,
- manufacturing of asbestos containing products,
- mining,
- paper mills,
- roofing,
- shipbuilding,
- vehicle repair.
Despite the health risks involved in its use, its performance as a cheap, durable material has kept it a popular ingredient in many products worldwide.
Health Risks Associated With Asbestos
Exposure to significant amounts of asbestos can cause serious health issues. Asbestos exposure has been scientifically and medically linked to the development of the following diseases:
- asbestosis, a lung inflammation causing permanent lung damage, breathing difficulties and persistent coughing,
- calcification and thickening in the chest cavity lining,
- colorectal cancer,
- gastrointestinal cancer,
- lung cancer,
- mesothelioma, a cancer affecting the chest and abdomen lining.
Although numbers aren’t available for every country, each year between 12,000 and 15,000 people die in the United States from asbestos-related diseases and about 4,000 people die annually in the United Kingdom. There remains no known cure for asbestosis or mesothelioma. Health problems from exposure can take years to develop.
Health and Safety Regulations
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), each day about 1.3 million people in the United States work in an area of significant asbestos exposure. OSHA and the Environmental Protection Agency created legal safety requirements for employers to keep workers in asbestos using industries safer. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducts scientific research to determine safe exposure levels and recommends actions to prevent work-related injury and illness. OSHA creates and promulgates workplace safety regulations. Employers are legally required to take the following actions to reduce asbestos dangers:
Getting Help
- train employees who work with or around asbestos,
- properly ventilate all workspaces,
- monitor asbestos exposure levels,
- monitor daily asbestos exposure levels during removal of asbestos-containing materials,
- clearly post warning signs and instructions in areas of asbestos-related work,
- provide protective clothing including coveralls, face shields, foot covers, gloves and goggles,
- provide protective equipment such as respirators,
- provide post-exposure precautions such as showers,
- provide medical examinations for categories of workers exposed to significant asbestos levels,
If you or a family member worked in an asbestos-related occupation and developed a related health disorder, contact an accident attorney or injury attorney who specializes in work accidents, worker’s compensation, and wrongful death. The attorney may recommend filing a lawsuit against one or more of the following parties:
- the asbestos manufacturer,
- the manufacturer of protective equipment that failed,
- owners of the structure where the work took place,
- involved contractors and sub-contractors.
If the employer failed to properly protect employees from asbestos exposure, the legally appropriate remedy is via worker’s compensation. An accident attorney or injury attorney can help you navigate the worker’s compensation process, including application to any existing applicable asbestos victim compensation fund.
What Are the Three Ingredients to a Slip and Fall Case?
A slip and fall injury is composed of three elements: shoes, floor, and person. What does that mean? An accident can be caused by any of these three factors. The victim themselves, the type of shoe that was being worn, and the condition of the floor that the victim was walking on. These three ingredients need to be examined thoroughly with a personal injury lawyer to make sure that none of those ingredients affect a victim’s claim.
Person
Insurance companies aim to show how the victim played a part in their own accident. They either state how the person was negligent by not being careful or how they failed to notice an obvious hazard. Things like disregarding wet floor signs, and running in a store, are reasons to put the blame on the person, rather than the property owner. The credibility of the victim is the most important thing to the jury because more than likely the victim was alone when the incident occurred. If the insurance lawyer is able to ruin the victim’s credibility, then the jury might consider the person responsible for their own injuries. When this occurs, the amount of money that the injured person would receive would not be as much as if they wouldn’t have had any fault in their own accident. This can sometimes be difficult for the insurance lawyers to prove because when someone goes into a store, they shouldn’t have to be looking at the floor at all times because they are there to buy products that are on display, not to worry about falling. It is the duty of the store to maintain the location safe.
Floor
This ingredient must be evaluated to the fullest extent. Thoroughly examining the surface where the accident took place is vital for the achievement of a solid personal injury case. There are some surfaces that are safe but when they encounter some sort of liquid, they become extremely slippery, while there are other surfaces that lack good traction. Property owners should be aware of these hazards and take the necessary steps to fix the issue. Fixing the hazard can be as simple as using the correct traction paint on the floor. Gathering evidence on the floor where the accident took place can be very valuable for a case. Things like testing the floor where the accident took place and giving those results to the court can help the victim’s case. The victim must perform the test under the same circumstances that their accident occurred.
The insurance company will try to counter the claim by expressing how the victim should have been careful and moved away from whatever hazard was seen on the floor. There are some spills that are not as visible as others. For example, when a floor is white, a spill of milk might not be able to be seen by a person, in contrast to a spill of coffee. The color of the floor would also be relevant in this case.
Footwear
The term “where the rubber meets the road” takes place in many slip and fall cases. When a shoe is not defective, it should enable the person to be comfortable with every step they take while maintaining their balance. The shoe should have adequate traction on normal surfaces. When a surface is slippery, then it is understandable that a person may slip if their shoes were not made to be slip-resistant. Every shoe is different in regards to their stability and grip. When comparing running shoes against a stiletto, the obvious more stable shoe would be the running footwear. Regardless of which shoe is being used, the footwear must provide safety for regular surfaces like carpets or well-maintained surfaces.
Miami Highly Trained Slip and Fall Attorneys
If a victim has suffered a grave accident resulting in injuries, they must seek the legal assistance of a skillful slip and fall attorney Miami, fl from Percy Martinez Law Firm.
How Much Can Be Recovered From A Personal Injury Case?
When a victim is planning on filing a lawsuit for a personal injury, they might be wondering “How much will I recover from my case?” Discovering exactly how much a case will be worth depends on the damages that the victim endured. The injuries endured will be assessed through the physical aspect, monetary expenses, mental anguish, along with any punitive damages that the court may order the defendant to pay.
With a personal injury case, the plaintiff is paid monetarily by the person, owner, or company that was found negligent and was the cause of the accident that resulted in damages. With a settlement, the plaintiff, defendant, and both lawyers will agree upon an amount of which they are both pleased with. With a settlement, the plaintiff would usually receive less than they would at a trial, for the most part. If the plaintiff is not sure whether they will win the case or not or does not have enough evidence to back up their claim, it is best to settle.
The best personal injury attorneys will decide whether the case is valid enough to make it to trial. The firm wants what is best for their clients and does not want them to miss out on the opportunity to recover for the damages they have endured.
Damages That Can be Awarded in Personal Injury Cases
There are different types of damages that can be awarded to the plaintiff of a personal injury case. Some of those damages include:
Compensatory Damages: These damages are awarded with the intention to make the plaintiff “whole” again from a financial standpoint. We know that no amount of money can ever rid the trauma or pain that a victim suffers from a personal injury accident, but the compensation serves its purpose. Compensatory damages consist of two types of damages: specific and general damages. Specific damages are those harms that can have a dollar figure placed upon it like medical bills and property damage, while general damages are harder to place a monetary value on it because it involves the pain and suffering of the victim. Some examples of compensatory damages include:
- Medical care and treatment bills
- Loss of income and of earning capacity
- Damaged property
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional anguish
- Loss of consortium
- Loss of enjoyment of life
When a jury deems the actions of the defendant egregious or outrageously careless, they can sometimes award the plaintiff with “punitive damages”. These damages are not awarded for the purpose of compensating the victim, but rather in an attempt to punish the defendant and deter them from committing the same act in the future. Typically, caps have been placed on the punitive damages that a victim can receive.
Working to Obtain Maximum Compensation for Our Clients
The firm of Attorney Percy Martinez works to obtain the most amount of money for their clients. When a person’s negligent acts affect another person in a way of harming them, they can be found liable for their injuries and should suffer the consequences of their actions.
