Personal Injury Law Blogs

Immediate Things You Should Do Right After Figuring in an Accident

Road mishaps happen on a daily basis in streets and highways of different sizes and structures around the world. It’s an unpredictable occurrence which you can’t really prepare for regardless of how good of a driver you are. The initial shock of the accident can sometimes lead to impulsive decisions brought about by nervousness and anxiety. In order to avoid actions you might regret, take note of the following things you should do right after you figure in a road accident.

Check for any wounds and injuries

Your health and safety should be your immediate priority after surviving the impact. Do not make quick sudden movements as it may cause dizziness and you might collapse. Check your arms and look at your face through the mirror to see if you have any open wounds or scratches. If your movement is incapacitated by injury, apply first-aid methods, call a hospital and request for an ambulance.

Call authorities

Get the attention of any police officials nearby. Otherwise, just call the local police station and give a summary of what happened. Ask them if it’s necessary to move the car to the side of the road as well. Give them a clear description of your location in case you can’t provide an exact address.

Take photos

Smartphones have made it possible to always have a camera on hand for emergencies such as road accidents. Make sure you get a shot of several angles comprising all the vehicles involved. It’s better if you can have pictures of the number plates as well.

Collect information

It would be ideal to first exchange contact information with all the drivers involved in the incident. This ensures that you have evidence to support the investigation when tensions flare up and someone flees from the scene. Also, try to talk to some witnesses and see if they are willing to provide you with a way to communicate in case you need support.

Move the vehicle to a safer area

If the police have finished documenting the incident, you can then place the car in a safer part of the road. Ask the officers to assist you when doing so in order to keep passing vehicles from blocking your path.

Organize documents

The key to getting compensation through a favorable court decision lies in your ability to support the case with enough documented evidence. The personal injury lawyer you hire also plays a big role, and you should be assured of their competence and expertise. Take note of all expenses you incur connected to the accident. This includes medicine, treatments and consultation fees you paid for from your own pocket.

Contact your insurance provider

Claims for insurance are settled quicker when information is procured immediately. If you manage to call the insurance office on the same day, then the case is opened instantly, and you can rely on the settlement process to move at once. This might be a good time to review your policy as well, and you can ask for assistance from a law firm that specializes in such cases.

Car accidents can cause much stress and worry if not handled with patience and organization. Keep in mind the abovementioned steps you need to take when you get involved in one, and you can expect a much easier time settling a claim or getting compensation.

Recent Notable Brain Injury Lawsuits

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is sudden damage to the brain caused by an outside physical force. It causes impaired cognitive and/or physical functioning, and can manifest through many different medical conditions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are an estimated 5.3 million people in the United States suffering from TBI. Many of those people have chosen to seek damages through the legal system and the following are some notable recent cases.

National Football League

In June 2012, the lawsuits of 2,138 former players were consolidated into one master complaint against the NFL, alleging that the league was well aware of the potential for serious head trauma but took no measures to prevent it. According to the suit, adequate safety guidelines were not created and implemented, thus causing a great deal of harm to thousands of players. The helmet-making company Riddell, Inc. was also named in the lawsuit because the players allege that the company knowingly manufactured helmets that were dangerous and unsafe. Many of the players involved in this suit are now suffering from conditions such as dementia, Alzheimer’s, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Some players have even committed suicide. The players want to hold the league financially responsible for the care associated with treating these conditions.

This case is significant for many reasons, starting with the sheer number of players involved in the lawsuit. The suit, and the attention it has garnered, will have a lasting effect on how professional football is played in the future. The NFL has already begun to implement more stringent safety guidelines, and even youth football leagues have responded by implementing stronger safety rules. Football is the most lucrative and the most popular sport in the United States and this amount of litigation is causing many to wonder if the NFL can remain viable.

Junior Seau

Although Junior Seau was a well-known professional football player, his family did not join the thousands of former players who filed a lawsuit against the NFL. They instead chose to file a separate wrongful death lawsuit against the League. Seau committed suicide in May 2012, and it was revealed that he was suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). His family filed suit because they believe this condition was caused by the constant blows to the head Seau endured as a player. Like the master complaint, they are alleging that the NFL was aware of the potential danger but did not take adequate safety precautions. The suit accuses the NFL of glorifying and encouraging brutal hits without regard for player wellbeing.

This suit is significant because of Seau’s popularity and longevity in the league. Also, because he just retired in 2009, it highlights how rapidly brain injuries can have a major effect on a person’s life.

Virginia Slip-and-Fall Case

Although the lawsuits involving the NFL have caused brain injuries to be widely associated with sports, there have been recent lawsuits involving other manners of injury. In Virginia, a woman was recently awarded $12.2 million after she experienced post-concussion symptoms caused by a slip and fall at a local gas station. Symptoms included difficulty concentrating and seizures. She slipped in a small puddle caused by a leaking awning and the court ruled that the business was aware that the area where she fell was dangerous. The amount awarded to the plaintiff in this case is believed to be the largest award for slip-and-fall injuries in the history of Virginia.

These lawsuits are just a small representation of the thousands of brain injury cases that have gone through the court system. They may not reverse the damage caused by the injuries, but perhaps they will provide acknowledgement of negligence and a symbol of closure for the victims and their families.

Byline

Isaac Ginsburg writes on legal subjects; his primary areas of concern are Spinal Injury, Criminal Defense, Intellectual Property, Constitutional Law and others.

What next for personal injury ?

D-day has arrived for PI claims and many PI lawyers would say that means disaster day. It’s certainly clear that the good times are over for the many personal injury specialist law firms but does this mean there’s no future in being a personal injury lawyer ?

The answer, we suspect is, it depends. Certainly there will be a lot of competition for jobs in a market that will shrink very fast, and there are a lot of PI lawyers. We know from it’s website that there are 4,5000 members of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) but not every injury lawyer is a member which means the number of solicitors working in injury firms is considerably higher, so there will be pressure on jobs. Most personal injury lawyers have not directly benefited from the very lucrative market in the last 20 years, with most of the high profits going to a small number of partners (most PI firms have only a few equity partners) so the model is quite different to most traditional legal practices, and perhaps more efficient for it in many ways.

Obviously, some firms will close, and a recent article in the Guardian suggested that 20% of firms in the North West may opt to close. A personal injury solicitor and owner of 1 firm we spoke top said that his firm would simply run off it’s current caseload and would then close. The partner has a property portfolio from investing profits made over the last decades so he’s really not that bothered.

We also know that whilst there will undoubtedly be far less volumes of cases, many personal injury cases will still be above the small claims limit with some high value claims, especially for areas like medical negligence.

Consequently, it is likely that a large number of firms will completely abandon marketing for claims of low value where the public may not be prepared or able to pay legal fees out of damages. The main area which is likely to be impacted is whiplash claims. It therefore seems likely that there will be increased competition in niche areas such as medical negligence.

In the PI sector, law firms generally do have a keen understanding of the importance of marketing, which is quite unlike other areas of law, so the surviving firms are likely to invest heavily in marketing and this may result in the smaller firms, with smaller budgets, struggling to compete. This is especially the case since some law firms are being bought by insurance companies or claims management companies, who in some cases have bigger budgets than even the stronger PI law firms. To an extent, the lawyers themselves have created this problem, which started several decades ago with Claims Direct, by buying cases from claims companies, ultimately only making the Claims Management companies stronger and ceding control of the market to such companies.

Another possibility for the smaller firms is to find creative ways to co0mpete – with the changes to the PI market, it may be that, initially, some of the bigger and stronger law firms may still offer 100% guaranteed compensation, but many will not be able to do that, so there is likely to be some scope for different types of fee structuring for clients. Differentiation may also come in the form of genuine expertise – one of the features of many types of PI claims, typically RTA claims and sometime Employers Liability, is that because of predictability in outcome and the lucrative nature of the fees available including success fees, the way personal injury has been marketed is that it doesn’t matter which firm you go to or which lawyer or even non-qualified lawyer that represents you. This is likely to change in the new landscape.

Other possibilities may include how quickly a claim may be assessed and different models of dealing with the more specialised claims.

In summary, difficult times in the personal injury market, but as with any such circumstances, adaptability is likely to be key for those firms that  decide to tough it out.

Evolved Legal are a specialist legal marketing consultancy which works with clients including Lloyd Green Solicitors. This firm already has a strategy in place for the changes one part of which is a new specialised cosmetic surgery solicitor website.

Injured in an Auto Accident? What you Should Know

In most areas of the United States, owning an automobile is an absolute necessity. Even in places with great public transportation systems, a vehicle still comes in handy. Unfortunately, due to the large number of people out on the road, traffic accidents are bound to happen. In fact, an auto insurance industry study showed that the average driver will have to file an accident claim once every 19 years. This makes it absolutely imperative for every driver to know what to do after an accident. Immediately after the Accident

In most areas, it’s not legally mandated that police be called, but it’s often a good idea. Officers will usually complete a report on the incident, and if they’re not going to, it doesn’t hurt to ask. Damages will not always seem sufficient for an officer to file a report, but in places like Florida, crash victims can submit their own crash reports to the department of motor vehicles.

In the event that someone is hurt, it is absolutely essential to stay on scene; this is true even if property damage doesn’t seem that extensive. Leaving the scene of a crime like this, before officers or medical personnel respond, is a quick way to get a hit and run or leaving the scene of an accident charge. Neither of these will look good when trying to recover compensation, regardless of who was at fault.

Do I Really Need an Attorney?There are undoubtedly some cases in which an attorney may not be necessary. If an accident only resulted in damage to a vehicle, for instance, and the insurance company and driver isn’t contesting anything, it’s likely that a driver can get the same amount of money that they would with an attorney. When injuries are sustained, however, it’s usually in a person’s best interest to get an auto accident attorney.

Regardless of whether a person thinks they can secure a fair settlement on their own or not, it’s simply ill-advised to not get an attorney if injuries are sustained. A Florida court, for instance, recently awarded $26 million to a veteran who was injured in a car accident. It’s safe to say that, without representation like a Miami car accident lawyer to fight for your rights, it’s excessively unlikely that an insurance company would offer this type of settlement.

Documents to KeepThere are a few documents that every person should gather or hang onto after an accident. First off, regardless of whether a police report or a crash report was filed, a copy should be made of the document. Additionally, it’s imperative to hold onto all medical bills regardless of whether they were paid yet. Finally, getting hold of previous pay stubs can also come in handy if a person is unable to work after their accident.

Auto accidents can be minor nuisances or lead to detrimental injuries. Regardless, it’s important to know how to handle any accident from when it happens until the point everything is back to normal. If this requires working with an attorney to get a fair settlement after an injury, then that’s likely the best way to go. The best part of an auto accident’s aftermath is when everything reaches relative normalcy, and knowing how to deal with these instances can definitely speed up this process.

 
Having had a family member who was seriously injured in a car accident and lost out on his rights, Lisa Coleman wishes to express the importance of seeking medical help after an accident and hiring a lawyer to stand up for you. After having consulted with a Miami car accident lawyer, her family member realized too late what hiring them could have done for him. Lisa writes to share this experience and urges anyone who knows someone who has been or currently is in this situation, to find an attorney and schedule a consult to be informed of your rights.

 

The Risks Involved In Representing Yourself

Post highlighting some of the downsides or risks involved in representing yourself, particularly in personal injury actions.

Contrary to the image portrayed in some parts of the media, launching a claim for compensation following a personal injury is not course of action which the vast majority of people embark upon casually or with a great deal of enthusiasm. On the contrary, people often shy away from embarking upon legal action of this kind until it becomes clear that it’s something which simply has to be done. Rather than, as is often implied, being a get rich quick scheme or a chance to cash in on an accident, claiming compensation is, quite simply, the best and most effective way of getting your life back on track, and people often hesitate until it becomes clear that, to choose one example, their future earning power has been greatly diminished.

One of the factors which discourages people from making a claim for compensation is, quite simply, a fear of the law. The average person tends to find the idea of a courtroom and the legalese spoken in such places more than a little daunting. Even when realising that a large percentage of compensation claims are actually settled before going to court, most people still harbour a fearful distrust of the legal trade. Years of Hollywood movies and tabloid scare stories have created the impression that lawyers are little more than sharks, looking for the next victim to fleece and really only concerned with the bottom line as far as they personally are concerned.

The truth, of course, is that the vast majority of personal injury lawyers are dedicated professionals determined to get the best possible deal for their clients. A few bad apples give the whole profession a bad name, of course, and if the lawyers you approach claim to be able to guarantee success or make outlandish predictions of the amount of money you’re ‘definitely’ going to receive, then they’re really not the right kind of people to work with.

All of this adds up to a feeling, in the minds of some people who’ve suffered personal injury, that they would be better off representing themselves. Whilst this may, at first glance, seem to be the simple way of approaching things, the truth can be more complicated. The average person has little if any experience of the law and may not realise that making a claim can take many months and require research into specialist areas. The claimant has to ask themselves if they can do all of this at the same time as running the rest of their life including, in all probability, earning a living. If they can’t dedicate the time needed, then the chances are that the case won’t be as strong as possible, and it must be remembered that the other side is going to be represented by seasoned professionals. This brings us to the second aspect of self-management, which is knowing when you’ve been offered a good deal. Many insurers try to minimise costs by offering a payment prior to a court case – make no mistake, it’s in their interests to offer the least they think they can get away with. A claimant lacking the knowledge and experience built up from years of fighting cases such as this may make the mistake of accepting a payment which is far below that which they deserve. Not only that, but the expenses incurred in mounting a claim can be huge and can greatly eat away at any money awarded. Things such as medical records and expert witnesses will have to be paid for, as will the costs of the other side if you end up losing your case. There are many horror stories of people who’ve launched legal proceedings only to find costs spiralling out of control to a disastrous degree.

Bearing all of this in mind it can be seen that representing yourself, even if you feel your case is cut and dry, is not the simple approach it may at first appear to be. An expert personal injuries lawyer will have seen, done and asked it all before, and will be able to answer any questions and build the strongest possible case. In many cases, including road accidents, medical negligence and accidents at work, Claims 4 Negligence can help victims with their claim and get them any compensation they are owed.

An overview to road accident claims

Every time someone gets behind the wheel, they are not only responsible for the safety of themselves but also every other road user. However, sometimes accidents do happen and with over a million vehicles on Britain’s roads every day, collisions are quite common. For the most part, these are only minor and people walk away without any serious injuries. Unfortunately, some cases can result in serious injury and if someone is injured in a road accident through no fault of their own, they could have valid grounds to make a personal injury claim.

As with any personal injury claim, it is essential that you gather as much evidence as possible to prove that the other party is at fault for the accident which caused your injuries. The types of evidence that will best serve your case vary according to the type of accident. Although, more often than not, the strongest forms of evidence are witness statements and photographs/videos of the accident scene.

Once you have gathered this initial evidence, you will then need to hire a good personal injury solicitor who can manage your claim. Solicitors vary greatly in terms of skills and experience, so it is paramount that you find the right person to take your case forward. Here are a few questions you should ask a solicitor before you hire them:

  • Do they work on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis?
  • How do their fees work?
  • Have they handled similar road accident claims before?
  • How much trial experience do they have?

Many solicitors off a FREE initial consultation so make sure you take advantage of this and meet with a number of different people. This way you will be able to gain a wider perspective of your situation and make a more informed decision about who is the right solicitor for you.

Once you have hired a solicitor, the next step in the process is to notify the other side that you are making a road accident claim. This is done by your solicitor writing a letter of claim and attaching a schedule of losses to detail all financial losses you have incurred as a result of the accident. They will then have three months to respond to this initial contact and either accept or reject your claim.

If they accept liability for your injuries a series of negotiations will take place until both parties agree on a compensation amount. However, if an agreeable amount isn’t established the case will go to court and be settled by a judge. On the other hand, if the other side reject any liability for your injuries the case will go straight to court.

The Upcoming Personal Injury Referral Fee Ban in the UK: 1 April 2013

Blog post regarding the upcoming personal injury referral fee ban in the UK on 1 April 2013.

On the first of April this year, the Government is introducing a new law which, one way or another, could have a dramatic effect upon the provision of personal injury compensation. Currently, very many claims of this nature originate when a person contacts, or is contacted by, a claims management company (CMC). Companies of this kind asses the validity of the case and then, if there’s a viable claim to be made, pass the details on to a specialist personal injury lawyer, with a fee being paid for this service. The client in question then works with this lawyer, building the strongest possible case and, hopefully, receiving the compensation which will allow them to start putting their life back together.

The decision to ban the payment of referral fees has been driven by a determination to crack down upon what has come to be seen as a ‘compensation culture’. The thinking behind this idea is that the majority of claims for compensation are made on a frivolous or dubious basis and are driven primarily by a desire to ‘cash in’ on circumstances and make some easy money. When urged to back up this line of thinking, people speaking on behalf of the ban tend to fall back on anecdotal evidence, one-off, extreme and highly publicised cases and a rise in the overall levels of compensation being paid. As is so often the case with generalisations and anecdotal ‘facts’ however, the truth can often be somewhat more complicated.

The simple truth is that compensation is paid not in order to punish the negligent party, nor to allow the victim to live a life of luxury but rather to ensure that an injury which wasn’t their fault doesn’t end up having a long term detrimental effect upon their quality of life and well-being. Bearing this in mind, personal injury lawyers tend not to want to take on claims of a dubious nature, and the No Win No Fee system merely amplifies this tendency, with only the strongest, most robust claims being worth the time and trouble of pursuing.

The overall rise in the amount of compensation paid out, rather than being driven by frivolous claims, is likely to be a by-product of the fact that people today are far more aware of their rights, and realise that an injury suffered thanks to a third party’s negligence is not something which they should simply put up with. A large part of this increased awareness has been driven by the advertising carried out by CMC’s, without which many people would not realise that they are able to claim for the likes of illnesses developed through work and suffering caused via criminal acts.

One sector lobbying vociferously for a ban of this kind has been the insurance industry, spokespeople for which claim that a drop in the number of compensation cases will result in a lowering of the premiums payable for the likes of car insurance. One doesn’t have to be particularly cynical to imagine that any drop in the amount of money being paid out will, in truth, result in a drive for higher profits, rather than altruistic passing on of the cut to customers. An example of this phenomenon can be seen in the fact that, between the years 1938 and 2010, the number of casualties per 100 million kilometres travelled in Great Britain dropped from 314 to 42. Alongside this is the fact that, in 1972, 7,700 people were killed on the road whilst, by 2011, this figure had dropped to 1,901. Unfortunately, the increase in safety represented by these statistics hasn’t been reflected in a corresponding drop in the cost of insurance premiums.

Allied to this is the simple fact that very many compensation claims, such as for accidents at work, are paid out before the case even reaches court, a fact which indicates the insurance company involved accepted that the claim was just and valid.

A successful ban on referral fees will therefore result in a diminishing of public awareness of the issues surrounding compensation, with very little chance of a corresponding drop in the costs of insurance. Not only that, but many experts are agreed that any such ban is pretty much unworkable in practice, with loopholes and caveats still allowing solicitors to pay fees to CMC’s for “the provision of services”. In practice, then, the ban will reduce transparency and accountability by driving the paying of fee referrals underground, whilst greatly reducing public awareness of the factors relating to personal injury compensation.

West Midlands glass company fined after worker loses finger

A West Midlands glass-processing company has been fined after it was prosecuted for health and safety failings in the workplace which led to serious injuries to an employee.

Mr Asif Hussain, 32, was working at Bloomsbury Glass Limited’s factory in Kelvin Way, West Bromwich, on 18 January 2012 when the injury occurred. A piece of glass became stuck in one of the machines in the factory and Mr Hussain helped a colleague to extract the piece of glass. He did this by entering the confines of the machine by slipping through a gap in the fencing that surrounded it. Whilst he discussed with a colleague how to remove the piece of glass, his glove was trapped by the rotating drive shaft and his right hand was pulled into the machine, resulting in the ring finger on his right hand being crushed so badly that it had to be amputated at hospital.

The injury was reported to the Health and Safety Executive and an investigation commenced. This investigation resulted in the prosecution of the company for a breach of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. Sandwell Magistrates Court heard that the machine in question had not been properly protected from entry since it relocated to its current site on 5 January 2013 and that its installation on the new site had left a gap in the guard panels. Sandwell Magistrates subequently found the company guilty of breaching Regulation 11 of PUWER 1998, fined it £2,000 and ordered it to pay costs of £4,928.

Under PUWER, an employer has general obligations to ensure that work equipment is :

  • suitable for purpose
  • safe to use
  • used only by people with the necessary information, instruction and training
  • accompanied by any appropriate safety measures

Regulation 11 of PUWER 1998 concerns dangerous parts of machinery. It requires an employer to ensure that access to dangerous parts of a machine is prevented or, if access is needed, to ensure that the machines is stopped before any part of an employee’s body reaches a “danger zone” (i.e. any part which poses to a risk of health or safety).

The HSE commented after the prosecution that “Guards and safety systems are there for a reason and companies have a legal duty of care to ensure they are properly fitted and working effectively at all times. The importance of robust safeguards to protect works cannot be overstated”.

Analysing the above case, it’s important for employers to ensure that the state (and potential hazards) of machinery in the workplace is regularly reviewed and assessed. Steps should be taken to reduce potential hazards to employees,  employees should be instructed to turn machines off if they have to access them, and employees should receive sufficient training on the machines to reasonably allow them to avoid risks to their health or safety from the machine.

It is not currently know whether Mr Hussain is pursuing a personal injury claim against his employer.

Redmans Solicitors are employment law solicitors offering employment law advice based in central London

Long-term failings by GKN Aerospace leads to long-term nerve damage to workers

A Health and Safety Executive news release yesterday reported that GKN Aerospace has been fined after a number of its employees were left with significant long-term physical disabilities due to health and safety failings.

GKN Aerospace is “one of the world’s largest independent first tier suppliers to the global aviation industry”. A GKN health surveillance programme identified five employees as suffering from advanced debilitating problems in 2009 due to their long-term use of vibrating hand tools. These employees had developed advanced symptoms of hand-vibrating syndrome, which is caused by the vibrations from such tools and results in long-term damage to circulation and nerve symptoms. The circulation issues cause the victim’s hands to become white and dead in cold conditions and causes extreme pain upon the hands warming. The nerve damage affects the ability of victims to handle and maneuver objects deftly. However, even though the employees had been identified as suffering from this problem, they continued to work as before and it failed to put in place procedures or carry out assessments to prevent other workers performing the same duties from suffering from similar problems.

GKN’s health and safety failings came to light when it fulfilled its obligations to report the diagnoses of the five employees to the Health and Safety Executive. An HSE investigation was subsequently undertaken – this found that GKN had failed to comply with the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2006 since they came into force in January 2006. An Improvement Notice served on GKN and a prosecution of the company commenced into its failure to comply with the Regulations. GKN was found guilty of failing to comply with the Regulations, fined a total of £26,800 and ordered to pay costs of £8,256.

As above, The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2006 came into force in January 2006. GKN was prosecuted under the following parts of the Regulations:

  • Regulation 5(1): for failing to make suitable and sufficient assessments of the risk from vibration such as to ensure that required measures are identified to allow the employer to comply with the Regulations
  • Regulation 6(1): for failing to ensure that the risk from the exposure of its employees to vibrations is eliminated at source or, so far as where it is not reasonably practicable to eliminate it, to reduce it to as low a level as is reasonably practicable

The Health and Safety Executive commented that “Work-related health risks cannot be ignored or pushed down the agenda. GKN Aerospace Services Ltd had the resources to protect its employees from the well-known effects of exposure to hand-arm vibration but failed to do so over an extended period”.

This case demonstrates that employers must be diligent in identifying potential risks to employees’ health and taking reasonably practicable steps to minimize this risk within a reasonable time frame after the identification. Failure to do so can result in criminal prosecution or a civil lawsuit for negligence and/or breach of statutory duty. It is not apparent whether the five employees concerned are currently pursuing their employer in the civil courts in a personal injury claim.

Redmans Solicitors are employment law solicitors offering employment law advice and are based in central London

U. S. Spring Break Hit & Runs – What You Need To Know

(U. S. Personal Injury Law and generally) Fort Lauderdale, Florida has been home to Spring Break for as long as anyone can remember. This beautiful south Florida coastal town is famous for its long stretch of beautiful beach, awesome night spots, and incredible weather. Every year, tens of thousands of people flock to this area to enjoy their Spring Break from high school or college. Many people already in the workforce still take their vacations at this time because Ft. Lauderdale offers so much fun and entertainment in the sun.

However, with this large amount of people in the area at one time, accidents do happen. In fact, it is more likely that a car accident will occur during the Spring Break period than any other time of the year in Fort Lauderdale. One of the most common occurrences is hit-and-run. A hit-and-run occurs when a driver hits another automobile or pedestrian and then quickly leaves the scene of the accident. Because of the consequences associated with an accident, many young people panic when one occurs and flee the scene. While this is obviously not the right thing to do, it does happen. Knowing what to do if you are involved in a hit-and-run is crucial to the success of your insurance claim.

If you are involved in a hit-and run, you should:

• Call the police immediately to report the accident. Do not leave the place where the event happened. Provide the police with as much details as possible.
• If you are able, take pictures of the scene and any damage you have sustained. If you see witnesses, ask if you can have their personal information to provide to the police. However, if you are injured, remain still until medical help arrives.
• If you have been injured, seek medical attention. Do not delay getting medical care, your health is too important.
• Contact a Fort Lauderdale auto accident lawyer. You will want to speak to a local attorney that is familiar with this type of event prior to making any statement to your insurance company.
• Never provide a written or recorded statement to the insurance company prior to speaking to your attorney, this can have an impact on your claim.

While hit-and-run is covered under your no-fault policy, most insurance companies do not like to pay these claims. Insurance companies feel that someone else should have to pay for your accident and injuries, even though the reason you have a no-fault policy is specifically for this reason.

An attorney will work with you and the insurance company to make sure that you receive a fair and complete settlement from the accident. They will enforce the terms of your insurance policy and demand that the insurance companies comply with their own rules. They will make sure that your medical bills are paid and that any other compensation you are entitled to you receive.

Spring Break is a very exciting time of year in Ft. Lauderdale. There is much to see and much to enjoy. Staying safe requires a little additional attention when there are so many people in one area, but not enough to detract from your vacation fun.

Anthony Joseph is a freelance writer who often discusses issues of traffic law, and is contributing this article to help promote safety on our roadways. Choosing the right Fort Lauderdale auto accident lawyer isn’t always easy. At Steinger, Iscoe & Greene, there’s a legal defense team of more than 25 lawyers, and 120 case managers. Their firm has spent over a decade fighting for the rights of victims, in a number of different case types.