Automobile Accidents

• Teenage Drivers: A parental nightmare

  Laura Mackie | November 21, 2006 2:26 PM | 0 CommentsSacramento, CA

  One of the most frightening aspects of being the parent of a 16 year old is the knowledge that your teenager will soon be driving. Experience gleaned from dealing with the legal fallout associated with car wrecks is a burden to every litigator/parent. Researchers tell us that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of injury and death among adolescents 16 to 19 years of age. The first six...

• Thoracic outlet syndrome and accidents

  Laura Mackie | November 14, 2006 3:07 PM | 0 CommentsSacramento, CA

  Although many injuries characterized as neck strains may subside without noticeable residuals, it is possible for more severe neurological symptoms to manifest long after the initial injury occurred. Following an accident, symptoms of other trauma induced conditions may be triggered immediately or may take months (even years in some cases) to develop. One such condition is Thoracic outlet...

• Pedestrian Accidents: When the victim is a child

  Laura Mackie | November 13, 2006 1:52 PM | 0 CommentsSacramento, CA

  Whether you are the parent of a child who was injured as a pedestrian or the driver of the vehicle in the same accident, the long term effects of that single event can be devastating. Perhaps more than any other type of vehicle accident, Pedestrian Accidents involving children tug at our heartstrings. Children are especially vulnerable to being hit or run over by vehicles. In California,...

• Calcuating Forces in car crashes

  Ed Smith | November 06, 2006 6:44 PM | 0 CommentsSacramento, CA

  What force is required to stop a car weighing 3000 lbs. and going 40 mph in one foot? What forces will be exerted on a driver...with and without a seatbelt? To answer these questions in a courtroom, attorney's bring in accident reconstructionists with long years of training in their field.However, an online site can aide an attorney in estimating the forces of a car crash by simply inputting...

• How Listening To Music Affects Driving

  Ed Smith | November 04, 2006 8:31 PM | 0 CommentsSacramento, CA

  Many lawyers almost by rote ask the parties in an accident if they had the radio on at the time of the crash, but often whatever the answer there is little effective followup other than the inference that perhaps the driver wasn't as attentive to the road because he was listening to music.I've recently found a study that seems to suggest that listening to fast tempo music while driving...

• Fatal Accident Statistics

  Ed Smith | November 03, 2006 2:56 PM | 0 CommentsSacramento, CA

  Over the last several years in California the number of fatalities caused by motor vehicle accidents have been on the rise. This is also true in other states and counties across the nation. For example, fatal accidents in Sacramento County seem to be increasing annually which can be linked to certain intersections and streets which seem to be more dangerous then others.For a list of statistics...

• What is an Underinsured Motorist Claim?

  Ed Smith | November 02, 2006 8:04 PM | 0 CommentsSacramento, CA

  Many times over the years, people have asked me if there's anything that can be done if the party responsible for causing injuries in an auto accident simply doesn't have enough insurance to cover the value of the injuries suffered in their case.Often, there is hope if the client had the forsight to purchase underinsured motorist (UIM) insurance coverage. This coverage is purchased just like...

• One in Four Motorists are Uninsured?

  Ed Smith | November 02, 2006 6:15 PM | 0 CommentsSacramento, CA

  Many do not know that nearly one in four vehicles on the road in California have no car insurance. Even though the Department of Motor Vehicles has long required proof of insurance as part of the vehicle registration process One in four are uninsured even though, if involved in an accident or stopped by a highway patrolman, the driver of an uninsured motor vehicle stands to lose driving...

• Handling California Uninsured Motorist Claims

  Ed Smith | November 02, 2006 5:57 PM | 0 CommentsSacramento, CA

  Many people injured in auto accidents are unaware that even if the driver that strikes them in uninsured, they may still have the ability to recover for their injuries. If the injured party or a family member of friend in the same house has an uninsured motorist clause in their insurance, it most often covers the person who was struck by the uninisured motorist or hit and run driver.Other people...

• Bicycle Accidents: Can use of a helmet save your life?

  Ed Smith | November 01, 2006 3:37 PM | 0 CommentsSacramento, CA

  California law requires the mandatory use of a helmet for any person 17 years of age or under who is riding upon a bike or bicycle on a public street or bikeway or path. Research on the subject has shown that all persons, even those over the age of 17 years, should seriously consider use of a helmet whenever riding a bike.For instance, according to an October 2006 study conducted with the...