Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Yeager on December 15, 2002, 03:48:13 PM
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Last Thursday evening myself and my 13 year old daughter were in my Nissan Sentra sitting at a stop light, 4th car back when I was rear-ended by an older fellow in a VW Jetta. It was raining moderately and dark but the area was well lit and visibility was as far as the horizon. This fellow didnt even brake, he just slammed into us going at least 35MPH. I was forced into the car in front of me and they were forced into the car in front of them.
The impact felt like an explosion and was shocking and terrifying. I have no air bag but even with my seat belt on I fractured my sternum on the steering wheel. My daughter was sreaming and hysterical. Fortunately, she did not come in contact with any part of the car interior. She suffers from whiplash and seat belt abbrassions, is sore as can be but otherwise alive. After seeing that she was still with me, I was able to get out of my car immediately and raced back to the car that hit me and I asked the fellow why he hit me? He said he didnt see me. His airbags were deployed and he was holding a cell phone in his left hand but didnt look to be talking to anyone.
Both myself and my daughter were ambulated to a nearby hospital (we were the only two people involved to be taken to hospital) and spent the better part of the rest of the night there.
My insurance company had not heard from this other fellows insurance company as of Friday evening. They didnt seem too alarmed. Well.....my daughter is sore and emotionally freaked out and I have a crack in my sternum 2 1/2 inches in length!
I hurt so bad I cant lift myself out of bed or wipe my own ass. Im pretty much alarmed.
What legal recourse will I have under these circumstances?
I ask of those that have experienced similar events.
Thnx
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If his insurance is still valid, you need to contact his insurance company. I take it the proper police reports have already been filled out?
You are entitled to pain and suffering comensation in addition to damages for the vehicles.
As far as the accident goes, the other individual may also be required to pay for damages to the vehicle that you hit. Especially if it can be shown that you were stopped for a bit before the collision (not emergency stop). I'm not for sure on that though... your insurance company would know best.
The insurance company will try to low-ball you on the pain and suffering. Think long and hard about getting an attourny if they do. That's definately a win/lose situation.
Glad to hear your OK... and good luck on the settlement.
AKDejaVu
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"but even with my seat belt on I fractured my sternum on the steering wheel"
That is what happens when you drive a tiny car in which you sit too close to the steering wheel.
Be happy that you weren't hit harder; had your sternum completely broken it's quite possible that you could be dead right now. Such an accident and injury is definately a shock; I'm glad you seem to be taking it pretty well. After I was in one such accident I vowed never to own a small car again because they truly are death traps.
J_A_B
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Whew thank God you guys weren't hurt too bad.
I got rearended last night myself. Car is going to need a new trunklid and taillights and bumper and front seats. The gees were so high that my passenger and I both bent the frames of our seats. Those seats absorbed a lot of energy so neither me or my passenger are hurt. The other guy (pickup truck, big surprise) and his passengers were OK also.
Do you have uninsured motorist coverage? That will kick in if the guy is a flake.
The worst case is that you sue him and his insurance company for the damages and medical expenses.
You need to talk to your insurance agent or whoever is handling the claim. They should be taking the lead on this and telling you what you need to do (if anything). If they aren't doing that then get a new insurance company.
Also make sure the police cite the guy for whatever laws he broke by ramming you.
PS Get a car with airbags!
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Asking here is incredibly stupid. I don't think a single person responding here is a lawyer.
Here is the best advice, and the only real advice anyone here can offer.
Call a Lawyer.
Ask a LAWYER for advice, not a board full of internet gaming freaks. :D
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Sorry, but I disagree.
The insurance companies are usually pretty decent in situations like this. For most injury situations I've seen, they've settled realistically.
Attournies could just cost you unecessary dollars.
There's not a big hurry... contact the insurance company and see what their plans are. If they're nowhere near what you expected, THEN get an attourny.
AKDejaVu
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Yep, don't get a lawyer unless your insurance company and his insurance company fail you. The insurance companies have plenty of lawyers. This is what you pay them those big bellybutton premiums for, to take care of this toejam so you don't have to.
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Originally posted by AKDejaVu
Sorry, but I disagree.
The insurance companies are usually pretty decent in situations like this. For most injury situations I've seen, they've settled realistically.
Talking to a lawyer doesn't mean sue, or even have the lawyer do anything.
When you want to find out what your legal options are, who better to talk to than a laywer? Most will consult with you for free anyways.
Asking non-lawyers about legal options is somewhat iffy.
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Hmmm... one group is unbiased, the other isn't.
Its the problem with going to a lawyer and asking if he thinks you'll need to pay him money for his services.
AKDejaVu
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Yeager,
Based on my experience in this area, I have one quick piece of advice: Get a lawyer.
We make lots of jokes about them, but the insurance company employs lots of them and will try to screw you over any way it can (in my case they started off by trying to convince me the accident was my fault when it was absolutely obvious that it was their client's fault).
Get a lawyer.
As to the time, it took about ten days before there was any real progress. They didn't even reliably accept my calls until I had a lawyer.
The lawyer cost me 0% of the amount of money from the vehicle's value settlement and 33% of the pain and suffering settlement. She charged no money up front. She was able to get quick responses from them in my favor where I had only gotten denials and stonewalling. There was no lawsuit filed, just the having somebody who knows the system working for you does wonders. The lawyer I had was a completely positive experience and I have nothing negative to say about the job she did for me. Without her working for me I likely wouldn't have recieved any compensation for my lost wages or pain and suffering.
Based on my experience I must absolutely disagree with AKDejaVu that insurance companies are reasonable and will arrive at fair settlements. The insurance company I was dealing with (not mine, the other guy's) tried to screw me over every time I talked to them, and did some BS game crap as well. They called my grandma (who's credit card my rental was based on) on the Friday of the first weekend I'd had off in four months and told her they weren't going to pay for the rental and to take it back. My grandma got flustered and we took the rental back. I called my lawyer about it Monday morning and she told me to immediately go get another rental. She then called the insurance company to roast them for this. She said that the insurance company pulling that on late Friday afternoon was typical and designed to fluster the claimant. Late Friday afternoon means the claimant often can't reach their lawyer.
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I agree,
If you want advice from a Lawyer, ask a lawyer.
There are many who will give you a free consultation.
I'm glad you two didn't get hurt any worse and I hope you don't have to go thru alot of sht to get back to where you were before it happened.
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same deal motercycle accident they weren't gonna even pay form my bike (woman totaly ran a stop sign and then halted dead center in a one way stop ) calle my god father ( local judge )
got all medical paid for bike paid for and 5 k on top .
get a recomedation for a lawyer from a reputable place.
the talk to him/her insurance companys are companys therfore only seeing to their own interests.
it is incredible what a fool you are deja.
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I would at least contact my attorney - and have him ask the ins co. what they are doing, if you feel it's necessary. Don't settle easily for them though.....
Very glad you both are going to be OK.. :)
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You dont need a lawyer if the police report proves they are at fault. Deja is right about compensation. See a doctor then specialist right away and make sure you get proper medical treatment and proof of the records. You will need to contact the other parties insurance company, their claims dept. Get claim number and process going right away. In some states you have a legal right to resolving the claim within a years time (in legal terms) tho compensasion may come later.
Talk to a lawyer but just have them handy. You can resolve the claim yourself though.
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Well looks like Yeagers calling a lawyer ...
but the question remains...
Which of his squaddies will volunteer to wipe his bellybutton for the next 3 months?
:D
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Yeager get a lawyer. Ins company will offer you a very low settlement fast, It will seem high t you but your entitled to 10x actual damage at least. so if hospital bills r 3k u should see 30k.
IF that guy doesn't have ins. your insurance company may send u chk for hospital. If you accept it they can say your paid in full.
Call lawyers who don't advertise. Then haggle with them on thier Fee's. You should get them down to 25% or less. Lawyers will get you more money than you could get on own. And if that guy is uninsured You maybe entitled to STATE money that lawyers know about. some states have a fund for uninsured drivers. you maybe entitled to these funds. @nd unless you need cash bad wait for 6 months make sure no buldging disc or other injuries not as yet showing.
BUT CALL LAWYER NOW.
Everyone hates lawyers until you need them and You do need them in this case. You may get sued by guys u hit if main actor has no ins.
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Average American car accident story,
"was driving in my car then I was struck, my neck!"
Average auto accident story in Isreal,
"I was on the way in my car then all of a sudden the freeway blew up!"
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get a lawyer. don't talk to anybodys insurance until you do. I've been in an accident where I was laid up for 6 months,
my wife was in a accident almost identical to yours. only she had a ruptured disk in her neck requiring about 50k worth of surgery.
insurance companys don't make profits by making payouts. they deal with these kinda things every day. whats new and scarey to you is just another workday to them.
just having the attny. to deal with all the crap is worth what you have to pay.
I don't know if the rules are the same everywhere (I doubt it) but here in oregon your insurance pays your medical bills, and wage compensation until you settle. then the deduct that from your settlement with the other guys insurance. my attny only charges his percentage out what was left after these are paid.
in both cases he more than paid for himself in that he persaded my insurance company that the other guys coverage was not suficient to compensate me and got them to wave the pip (personal injury protection) lein on my settlement. so I ended up with the other guys full insurance limit (- 30% to the attny)
also in my wifes case the insurance company tried to get out of paying for the surgery (said she had a weak spine and she would have eventually done something else to hurt it :rolleyes: ) without him it would have been an imposable nightmare.
the amount of stress you will save by being able to say "please make all your contacts through my attny" alone is more than worth it.
cash wise here's some a couple bottom lines.
my accident
the pip lein was about 17k
the other guy had the state minimum insurance of 25k per person personal injury
even if I got every bit of insurance from his company I'd have recieved 8k. my attny convinced my insurance to wave the lein so we got the full 25k (17 for me)
wifes accident
pip lein was 68k, other guys insurance was 100k
if we had got all of the 100k (and won the argument on surgery) we would have got 32k
again he convinced my insurance to wave the lein
30k for attny, 4k expenses 66k for us
even though he made some pretty big cash taking care of this in both cases he saved us alot of money, stress, and pain.
ps.
the only good attny is your attny.
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If you don't want to fork out the bucks for an initial consultation with an attorney, call your local BAR Association. They will frequently run a call-in type deal where attorneys volunteer to field basic legal questions at no charge. That would at least give you an idea of some of your legal options.
Cougar
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Guys,
Thanks for the replies so far. Im not seeking law advice here. Im seeking experiences others have had under similar circumstances.
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I had an experience like that once, although my passenger and I were not injured to the extent you were. Same scenario as your first post described. I saw the guy coming though, and warned my passenger in time. We were stopped at a light and this guy barrels up behind us and WHAM. We were pushed into the car in front of us with enough force to total it.
Long story short, I setteled for what I thought was a reasonable amount - it was not. That's why I suggested to at least contact your attorney to inform what's going on and he/she will make sure all your bases are covered. Anyway, if it ever happened again to me, the attorney would be on my call list. Good Luck.....