Posts Tagged ‘Lawyer’

In Ontario, for many, a traumatic accident such as a high speed car accident or bicycle accident represents the first time that they've experienced dealing with a serious personal injury claim.

As a first time accident victim, you may not have any idea where to start.

Who do you contact to claim compensation? Where will you begin to look for medical care that goes above and beyond our already strained Health Care system after discharge from the hospital? Who is going to pay for all of this treatment and your entire out of pocket expenses? A personal injury lawyer will have all of these answers for you and more.

A personal injury lawyer will find the cause of the accident, correspond with the insurance company so that you don't have to; put you in contact with a network of health-care professionals like occupational therapists, physiotherapists, social workers, speech language pathologists, neuro-psychologists, physiotherapists, psychologists and case managers to assist you in recovering all while ensuring that the insurer is paying the bill for your medical care and not you.

Ontario's personal injury laws are complex and are ever changing. There are a plethora of forms that accident victims are required to complete. These forms need to be submitted by critical deadlines, which only a personal injury lawyer will know.

For example - Did you know that you have to report a car accident for which you are claiming accident benefits within 10 days of the accident? Did you know that you have to provide notice in writing to a municipality within 10 days of an accident on municipal property? Did you know that you have to report an accident on an Ontario Highway within 30 days if you allege the accident occurred due to poor roadway conditions? Did you know that you have to apply for Mediation at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario before you can sue for accident benefits? Probably not. Not knowing this information is the difference between a successful personal injury lawsuit and a failed one.

One of the most important reasons to contact a personal injury lawyer is because they are familiar with the delicate dance between accident victim and insurance company.

Insurance companies are in the business of assessing risk and processing personal injury claims just like yours. They have a multitude of employees who are trained to gather information from you and analyze your claim. Insurance companies will insist on taking a statement from you, meeting with you at your home and getting you to fill out forms which you probably don't even understand. The reason of this is to minimize their risk and liability and ruin your potentially meritorious claim before it even gets off the ground. The people which the insurance company will send to meet with you are paid by the insurance company to minimize your claim. These people may exclude important information which can be devastating to a personal injury claim.

One of the worst things I've ever seen was a woman who was in a car accident and lost consciousness for 2 minutes following her accident. She had a closed head injury. She reported blurred vision, memory loss, a stutter in her speech, headaches, loss of sleep, dizziness, lack of appetite and mood swings. Within a week of her accident she was contacted by her insurance company and she agreed to have a person from the insurance company visit her at her home. The insurance company did not mention that the person who was visiting her was an occupational therapist who was going to do an in-home assessment of her needs. The occupational therapist from the insurance company did not include any of her head injury symptoms in her report to the insurance company.

Later, when these symptoms were reported by the accident victim and her family doctor, the insurer failed to acknowledge that these symptoms even existed because they were not listed in the occupational therapy report prepared by an agent for the insurer. Later, at trial, on cross examination of the same occupational therapist, she admitted that she did 100% of her work for insurance companies and that she neglected to ask the accident victim about any head injury symptoms because she did not think them to be important. How could she possibly think that blurred vision, headaches, dizziness, loss of sleep and mood swings were not important?

At trial, the insurer was obligated to pay additional damages to this accident victim for its bad faith claims handling. Had this accident victim not consulted a personal injury lawyer, she would never have been entitled to any compensation because the insurance company had made every possible effort to cover up all evidence of her accident related impairments.

Finally, there is an old and wise saying, that a self-represented litigant has a fool for a client. That adage could not be further from the truth,primarily when it comes to personal injury claims. Don't get hurt twice. Know your rights.

1. Good fortune will follow you the rest of your life.

 

2. The stars in the sky will shine down on you.

 

3. It will drive the insurance company nuts.

 

4. A weight will be lifted off your shoulders.

 

5. Every time you hire a lawyer, an angel gets into heaven.

 

6. You’ll get a prize in your next box of cereal.

 

7. Your dog and cat will thank you.

 

8. It says so in this article.

 

9. Ask your mother. She’ll tell you that’s true.

 

10. Trust us. We’re lawyers.

 

Here are ten useful tips of advice from a bicycle accident lawyer to follow if you have been in an accident. You can also learn more about how to handle a bicycle accident in Palmdale, or any city, by calling the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson at any of the numbers which can be found on our website at http://www.SebastianGibsonLaw.com  and learning how we can assist you.

 

Obviously, if you have had an accident, and you are reading all of this advice, it may have been a few hours since the accident. However, if you ever have another accident, or if it’s only been a few hours since you were hurt, here’s what you should do from the start.

 

First, take a look around and determine if you or anyone, are hurt. If so, taking steps like trying to prevent further injury or loss of blood are the most important thing you can do. Even if some other driver caused you to be injured, it’s just good manners to help the other driver if they are hurt. They may even be so thankful that they admit their fault to you. The worst thing you can do is get angry or start a fight.

 

Second, make sure everyone is safe from being injured further. If you are in the middle of traffic, and you are dizzy, sit down away from traffic. If your vehicle is a traffic hazard and you have accident warning devices like flares or triangles, put them out on the road to warn other drivers and get away from the car. Let the police an other emergency personnel investigate the scene with the vehicles in place and move them more safely at a later point.

 

Third, call the police. Accident reports are extremely helpful if the police will do such a report. Let the police know you are injured immediately. Answer the police questions honestly. But if you are dazed or confused, let them know you need medical treatment and answer only what you feel sure about. Remember, your statements can and will be used against you if you admit fault, and it will be too late and too fishy to later say you didn’t know what you were saying at the scene. Police know that your best recollection is immediately after an accident.

 

Fourth, get the other driver’s information including their names, addresses, driver’s license numbers, make and model of their vehicles, license plate numbers, and their insurance company name and policy number. If there are witnesses, get their names, addresses and telephone numbers as well. If the other driver makes any admissions of fault, write those down as well.

 

Fifth, if you have a camera on your cell phone or in the car and you aren’t too injured, take some photos of the vehicles and the scene. If you can’t do it right away, do it after you are released from the hospital.

Sixth, if you are hurt, obtain medical treatment. Don’t decline the ambulance or hospital examination to save your insurance company money or to be stoic. Take your valuables out of your car if you can and get checked out at the hospital. If you are not hurt, don’t get treatment you don’t need. However, remember, after an accident, you may feel a rush of adrenaline that causes you to only start feeling symptoms of pain a few hours later. If you have a health plan that requires you to obtain permission first, call them and find out where you are allowed to seek treatment.

 

Seventh, call a good bicycle accident attorney as soon as you have had your initial treatment, so the lawyer can gather other important evidence and prevent the insurance company from taking advantage of you and obtaining such things as recorded statements that you feel fine, when many of your symptoms have yet to manifest themselves. A good bicycle accident attorney can save you from making a great deal of mistakes and can shoulder much of the hassle of knowing what to do about car repairs, car rentals, medical treatment, witness statements and the like. If you think you will save money by not having an attorney, think again. A good bicycle accident lawyer can almost always obtain much higher settlements, obtain reductions of medical bills and insurance liens and prevent you from making costly mistakes. Also, most bicycle accident attorneys advance costs of obtaining police reports, medical records and the like and are paid and reimbursed for these costs only out of any settlement.

 

Eight, you will need to report the accident to your insurance company, but since they will want to take a recorded statement from you, just like any other driver’s insurance company, it’s good advice to retain an attorney first. And if the other driver did not have insurance, remember that it is your own insurance company that will be your adversary. You will also need to report the accident to the Department of Motor Vehicles and your lawyer can give you the form for this.

 

Ninth, do not agree to settle your claim privately with the person at fault for the accident. This almost never works out to your advantage. Don’t agree not to call the police. Police reports that determine the fault for an accident are golden. Your agreement to not involve the police only affords an opportunity for the other driver to change his story and blame you when the police will no longer investigate the accident.

 

Tenth, don’t pay a traffic ticket without a fight if you weren’t at fault or agree to accept a small payment for your vehicle repairs without knowing that the amount will in fact cover the cost of all the repairs.

 

If you’ve had a bicycle accident in Palmdale, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Corona, Temecula, Murrieta, Riverside, San Bernardino, Moreno Valley, Fontana, Victorville, Hesperia, or anywhere in Southern California, we have the knowledge and resources to be your Palmdale Bicycle Accident Lawyer and your Victorville Bicycle Accident Attorney. Be sure to hire a California law firm with auto, motorcycle, truck, bicycle, pedestrian, car, bus, train, boat and airplane accident experience, wrongful death experience and insurance law expertise who can ensure you are properly represented and get the compensation you deserve.

 

If you have a personal injury legal matter, a dog bite or if you’ve lost a loved one in a wrongful death accident, call the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson, or visit our website at http://www.SebastianGibsonLaw.com  and learn how we can assist you.

You need a bicycle accident attorney to understand your rights. If you are unfortunate to be in a bicycle accident, you need a bicycle lawyer to guide you through the particular legal issues regarding bicycle law. Bicycle lawyers such as Nadrich and Cohen are experts in bicycle law. We advocate for our cyclists rights throughout our legal representation. We are experts on cyclists rights, including their rights to the road and all cyclists rights and duties. Our bicycle law firm knows exactly what to do to protect the bicyclist concerning insurance. We have tremendous experience in recovering bicycle accident settlements on behalf of our cyclists from auto and home owners insurance.

The Various States Bicyclist Liability Laws

Most states have general tort liability, which means that the person who causes the accident has to pay the fault free or not at fault party. There are certain no fault states that have an insurance system based on no fault. These states are: Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, New York, and Utah. There are hybrid states such as Arkansas, Maryland, South Carolina, Texas, Delaware, Oregon, South Dakota and Virginia. There are states with hybrid or no fault options, and they are Kentucky, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and District of Colombia. The nine states that have no fault means that you will be compensated for your own injuries and property damage by your own insurance policy without regard for who was at fault.

Compensation is limited to your economic damages such as medical expenses and lost income. None of the non economic damages such as pain and suffering damages will be available to you. Nine states have adopted a hybrid system in which the first party benefits; that is, your own insurance. Traditional tort liability states have no restrictions on law suits. The three remaining states offer a choice between no fault and tort liability, in which consumers decide whether they want a threshold limit on lawsuits or a policy with no restrictions. These states are New Jersey, Pennsylvania and District of Columbia.

Nadrich & Cohen, As Your Lawyers- What We Do

Insurance policies always come into play when a cyclist is hit by a motorist. The cyclist will make a claim on the motorists insurance. We specialize in presenting the cyclists claim and working with the adjuster for the insurance company. We provide documentation to support the claim to the adjuster and argue extensively on our clients behalf. Remember, the adjusters job is to make sure the insurance company pays you the smallest amount of money it possibly can to resolve your claim. The adjuster is not your friend, but your adversary.

Home owners insurance coverage has been obtained for cyclists. For example, if a can of soda is thrown from a passing car and hurts the cyclist, certain courts have found that the home owners insurance is liable, and some have found that the automobile insurance coverage applies. If it?s a passenger, then the passengers home insurance can come into play.

California Cyclist Law

Remember, in California, every bicyclist should know that the California Vehicle Code applies to all bicyclists riding on all roadways. There is a California Vehicle Code section that requires that a cyclist rides with and not against traffic.

There is also a Code that requires bicyclists to ride as close to the right hand curb as possible. Lastly, there is a California Vehicle Code section that requires a bicyclist not to ride in a cross walk if it is in a business district.

If you've been seriously injured a bicycle accident anywhere in Orange County from Huntington Beach to Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, CA, Irvine, Anaheim, Fullerton or Santa Ana, or if you've been in a bicycle accident in San Diego from El Cajon to Chula Vista, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Del Mar, Carlsbad or Escondido or if you've been hurt on your bike in Fullerton, San Bernardino, Redlands, Palm Springs or Palm Desert, it could be you've been wondering if the California state legislators are thinking up any new laws to try to prevent bicycle accidents.

 

 

 

I last heard that California that the state's legislators were truing to pass new legislation to prevent bicycle accidents (not really, but it made for a good article) and I wanted to know what rules might prevent these accidents in the future, so I called one of my state Senators.

 

 

 

"So is the law against using cell phones to text going to apply to bicycle riders?" I asked.

 

 

 

"Only if some court considers them to be motorists" the Senator stated. "We like to leave these laws vague and subject to interpretation so lawyers have something to do with their time."

 

 

 

"What else are you thinking about outlawing?" I asked.

 

 

 

"For one thing, no more riding bicycles down to the beach or in the mountains," the Senator said.

 

 

 

"Why are you outlawing that?" I asked.

 

 

 

The Senator looked at me like I was crazy. "Because that's where a lot of the bicycle accidents happen."

 

 

 

"Are you prohibiting anything else?" I asked.

 

 

 

"No more children on bicycles," the Senator said.

 

 

 

"You mean as passengers behind their parents?" I asked.

 

 

 

"No more children on bicycles at all," the Senator said proudly. "We expect this will drastically cut down on bicycle accidents involving children."

 

 

 

"Well, duh," I said. "If children can't ride bicycles, the only bicycle accidents that will cause injuries to children are when adults ride their bikes into them."

 

 

 

"And we're going to make that a lot harder to do too," the Senator said.

 

 

 

"How are you going to do that?" I asked.

 

 

 

"By making adults walk their bikes," the Senator said.

 

 

 

"This is ridiculous," I said. "There's an energy crisis going on and you numbskulls want to do away with bicycle riding."

 

 

 

The Senator took offense. "We're just trying to help the automobile industry."

 

 

 

"By outlawing bicycle riding?"

 

 

 

"By having adults drive their children to school," the Senator said.

 

 

 

"What?"

 

 

 

"Think about it," the Senator said. "If kids can't ride their bicycles to school, what are they going to do, especially if you cut back on bus service."

 

 

 

"Walk?"

 

 

 

The Senator frowned. "We were thinking more along the lines of parents driving more, buying more new cars, fewer accidents to kids on bicycles...."

 

 

 

"Not going to happen," I said.

 

 

 

The Senator listened worriedly.

 

 

 

"Families don't have the money anymore to buy a new car."

 

 

 

"We're still going to prohibit bicycle riders from playing video games on their bikes," the Senator said.

 

 

 

"I think kids can live with that," I said.

 

 

 

"What about cell phones and texting?"

 

 

 

"Have to think about that," the Senator said.

 

 

 

If you've been injured in an accident involving a bicycle and want to know what rules actually apply to bicycle riding, call the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson. 

 

 

 

News - On October 1, 2008, Governor Schwarzenegger banned motorists from texting, writing or reading messages on electronic devices. The law goes into effect January 1, 2009. It does not appear to apply to bicyclists but still may prevent accidents from happening when drivers of cars are texting instead of looking out for bicyclists.    

 

 

 

If you've been injured in a personal injury or bicycle accident in Orange County, San Diego, in the Inland Empire, Palm Springs or anywhere in Southern California, we have the knowledge and resources to be your Newport Beach Personal Injury Lawyers, and Huntington Beach Bicycle Accident Attorneys. For this reason, be sure to hire a California law firm with personal injury lawyers who are ready to serve you in areas such as Fullerton, Irvine and Riverside so you are properly represented and get the compensation you deserve. 

 

 

 

If you've been injured in a bicycle accident and want to know more about your rights and what you are entitled to, call the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson, or visit our website at http://www.sebastiangibsonlaw.com  and learn more about how we obtain great personal injury settlements from insurance companies. You can also call us to speak directly to Sebastian Gibson about any auto, motorcycle, truck, pedestrian, car or bicycle accident, the loss of a loved one in a wrongful death or about a dog bite injury with no charge for your consultation.