Maximizing the Settlement of Your Automobile Accident Injury Claim

This article will discuss 10 couple steps you, as the victim of negligence, can take to make sure that you are compensated fairly for your harms and losses after an automobile crash caused by the carelessness of another. The author, Timothy Nies, is a personal injury attorney in West Palm Beach, Florida with Van Riper and Nies Attorneys, P.A., and a former insurance company trial attorney, having worked for the largest insurance defense law firm in the U.S.

1.                  After the crash, if you feel injured, dizzy, faint or in any way, hurt call 911 to report the crash and request an ambulance. Do not hesitate. In Florida, insurance companies pay the bill of the ambulance through PIP insurance. If you don’t feel that you can call yourself, ask for a witness or another driver to call 911 and request an ambulance. 

2.                  Write down any information you can on any potential witnesses to the crash.  If you cannot obtain their names, addresses, and telephone numbers, try to at least copy down their license plate numbers. Do no rely on the investigating officer to write down the names of all witnesses. Very often this does not happen.

3.                  Take photographs of your vehicle, the vehicle that crashed into you, or caused the crash, what the driver of the other car or truck was doing after the crash, as well as the scene of the car accident. Many drivers have cameras on their cellular phones.  Photographic evidence of the vehicles and the scene will be very significant to any potential automobile accident claim.

4.                  Be calm and polite at the scene of the crash, if possible.

5.                  If you have not already been transported to the hospital, the law enforcement officer investigating the car crash will ask you if you are hurt. Explain to the officer any feelings whatsoever of pain, discomfort, dizziness, etc.  If you say “fine” or “ok”, when you are not, the officer will put in the report that you were ok, when in reality you were not.

6.                  After the crash, it is likely that you may experience pain, which you did not feel at the scene of the crash. If so, see your family doctor, go to an ER, or see a doctor at a walk-in clinic. You can use your car insurance card to obtain the treatment. Your insurance company will reimburse the doctor or hospital for the medical care. Do not let the fact that you have no health insurance stop you from seeking needed medical care.

7.                  Report the claim to your insurance company.

8.                  Do not speak with the insurance company adjuster of the negligent driver without first consulting with an attorney. They will often claim, in fact, they will usually always claim they are investigating the claim and need a recorded statement from you. The real reason they want a recorded statement is to use it against you in any potential claim.

9.                  Spend some time looking into several personal injury attorneys.  Ask your friends of relatives for any recommendations.  Look up the attorney’s qualifications online or on the state bar website (such as floridabar.org). Meet with the attorney in person and ask as many questions as you wish. If the attorney actually does not meet with you, at your home or his office, but rather sends an “investigator” (which is usually nothing more than his assistant) to meet with you, think twice before signing any agreement.

10.              Request frequent face-to-face meetings with your attorneys. If your attorney complains, you may wish to consider another attorney.

Hopefully, these simple tips will help you maximize the settlement offer to compensate you for your harms and losses suffered in an automobile crash. These tips should not be considered formal legal advice, but general information. You should speak with an attorney after any crash.  Most do not charge for a consultation.

By: Timothy Nies, Esq., Van Riper and Nies Attorneys, P.A.

Email:  tim@vanriperandnies.com

Tel: 561-948-5588

Florida Truck Accidents – How to Prevent It

The damages that a truck accident causes are usually life-altering, if not life-ending. According to statistics, truck accidents can lead to disproportionate number of serious injuries and fatalities because of the sheer size of the trucks. Florida ranks fifth in the United States with the highest number of deaths involving large trucks. Nearly 400 fatalities were documented in the state in recent statistics.

While you cannot know ahead of time the mistakes truckers will make as you drive, there are some useful tips to follow that may help you avoid accidents involving trucks on Florida roads and highways.

Truck driver error is the main reason of truck accidents in Florida. However, in some cases the initial error is in fact committed by the driver of the smaller vehicle.

Two of the most frequent examples are when another vehicle cuts in suddenly in front of a truck or when another vehicle enters the truck’s blind spot.

As a driver of smaller vehicle, you need to know that there are limitations of trucks and you should adjust your own driving accordingly.

Drivers need to make sure they provide enough distance when entering the lane of a truck, especially on a highway when the truck may be traveling at speeds of 60 – 70 mph. If a driver enters the lane in front of a tractor trailer during rush hour, then must engage the brakes to avoid hitting the car in front of him or her, the truck behind may be left with little room to stop in time due to the speed and weight of the truck.

Large trucks traveling at typical highway speeds require more room to slow down compared to much smaller automobiles. Therefore, it is prudent to make sure enough distance remains between your car’s rear and the truck so that the truck may stop if you should quickly apply your brakes. When passing a tractor trailer, it is important to see the entire front of the truck in your rearview mirror before entering the lane of a truck. It is prudent to give as much space as possible.

Large trucks also have large blind spots. The general rule is that if you cannot see the driver’s head in the truck’s side view mirror, then he likely cannot see you. To avoid these large blind spots to the sides of trucks, keep your driving time to the sides of trucks to an absolute minimum and make sure to check to see that the truck’s turn signals are not on when deciding to pass the truck. Of course, do not attempt to pass if you notice the truck weaving in and out of a lane, this may be a sign that the truck driver is not alert.

If you need to pass a tractor-trailer, always pass on the left. Research shows that more serious crashes occur on the right side of trucks because of the blind spots.

Following these, among other, may just save your life.

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Timothy C. Nies leads a firm's personal injury, maritime injury, civil litigation, and commercial litigation practice groups. He has spent the past 10 years, first defending well-funded insurance companies and large corporations in complex personal injury cases. If you you are looking for a Stuart personal injury lawyer, a reputable Stuart personal injury attorney at Van Riper & Nies Attorneys, P.A. is ready to serve you today!

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is general information provided to you "as is", it does not constitute legal advice and the author is not acting as your attorney. No claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, or adequacy of the information contained in, or linked to this article or website, and its associated sites.