Vancouver Personal Injury Lawyer

Animal attacks

Don Jacobs — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:14:00 GMT

Who out there isn’t a dog lover? America seems to have a love affair with pets. Pet food and supply stores have become national chains occupying huge warehouse stores set up to supply us with every need or whim for our pets. The latest phenomenon is the doggie day care facility where you take your pet to spend the day with other dogs while you go off to work. Heck, mine even has a web cam so you can check on your dog’s activities during the day. We truly are a nation obsessed with our pets. So what happens when one of our pets attacks someone? Animal bites can result in very serious injuries. Every year hundreds of people in Oregon and Washington visit emergency rooms because of attacks by dogs. Are we automatically responsible when this happens? What if the dog has never bitten anyone in the past and has always had the sweetest temperament? Washington State has enacted a strict liability law for dog attacks. It used to be that the owner wasn’t responsible unless they had knowledge of the dog’s dangerous propensities. Long referred to as the “first bite rule”, a dog owner wasn’t on the hook until there was a record of the dog biting someone in the past. In order to recover damages from the owner you had to prove they were negligent in allowing the dog to interact with people, given his history of biting someone in the past. This is no longer the case. Now an animal owner is strictly liable for his dog’s behavior. No matter how sweet the dog has been the past. As long as the person who was bitten was legally entitled to be where he or she was, and they didn’t do anything to torment or provoke the dog, the owner is strictly liable for the attack. You no longer have to prove any negligence on behalf of the owner. You are entitled to recover damages for the bite. This usually takes the form of medical bills, wage loss and an amount for what you went through, to include a reasonable figure for any permanent scarring left from the bite. When these claims are made, they typically are paid for by the dog owner’s homeowners or renters insurance. Claims resulting from animal attacks, like auto accidents, usually have to be brought with a certain time after the attack. If you miss the deadline, you can lose all right to recover damages.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Don Jacobs

Texting while driving

Don Jacobs — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:39:16 GMT

Be honest. How many of you have sent a text message while driving? If not, have you ever checked your Blackberry or your I-Phone while sitting in traffic to check the stock market? Or check on the weather report? Or read your emails? How many of us have phones with GPS applications? You do have to type in the address to find the best route. How often do we pull over and stop to do this? The answers to the above would probably alarm all of us. Yet most of us consider ourselves safe drivers. It all comes down to the problem of distracted driving. Taking your eyes off the road for only a moment to check your cell phone can mean you travel quite a distance down the highway without watching where you’re going. And the greatest proportion of distracted drivers appears to be in the 20 and under age group. A recent report from AAA discussed how dangerous it is to text and drive. In a survey sent out by the association, one out of five drivers had read or sent a text message while behind the wheel. Nearly all of those who answered the survey considered it unsafe, even though 20% of the respondents admitted to having sent a text while driving within a month of being surveyed. Ford Motor Company recently commissioned a survey of 1,000 licensed drivers. The survey results showed that 93% of the people responding supported a nationwide law prohibiting texting while driving. According to the Institute for Highway Safety, eighteen states, including Washington and Oregon have now enacted bans on hand held cell phone use while driving. Now the National Safety Council has called for a total nationwide ban on cell phone use while driving. Texting has grown enormously in the last four years. Ten billion text messages a month were reported sent in December of 2005. In December of 2008, the number increased to more than one hundred and ten billion. It’s well past the time that driving while texting should be banned in all states.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Don Jacobs

The Imbalance of Balance Billing

Don Jacobs — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:37:52 GMT

A hallmark of fiscal responsibility is paying your bills in full and on time. The last thing you want, especially after an accident, is the added stress of a poor credit score or an outstanding bill. However, post-accident bills don't always work like your regular monthly bills, mostly due to the involvement of insurance companies. In the case of medical bills, in many cases, the industry dictates the amount your treatment is worth and pays that amount. Contracts often exist between hospitals, doctors and insurance companies. These contracts usually limit what a provider can charge for a particular service. They also generally prohibit the provider from trying the collect the balance or “balance bill” the patient. The contracts work a benefit to both the provider and the insurance company. The provider gets access to patients who have the coverage. They also get assurance their bills will be paid promptly and without having to resort to collection efforts. The insurance company benefits by being able to hold down costs and make more of a profit off the money coming in from the people covered by the insurance. Providers who are on contract with a particular insurance company are often referred to as “in network providers”. Typically an insurance company will provide a list of providers in your area who have contracted with the insurance company. If you go to an “out of network” provider you may end up having to pay the portion of the bill not covered by the insurance. Sometimes providers, even if they are “in network”, try to bill a patient for the balance of the bill not paid by the insurance coverage. This happens more often in auto accidents. Providers know a settlement is coming at some point and refuse to bill the medical insurance covering the patient. They do this because they know they may be able to collect the full amount of the bill when the case settles, avoiding any insurance company write of. This is becoming more and more of a problem on auto accident cases and other cases involving an insurance settlement. An attorney experienced in this area of law will usually inquire as to whether the provider has a contract with the insurance company. Attorneys know checking to see if the health care provider is prohibited from balance billing can save the consumer money. If you are not represented by an attorney, call your insurance company if you receive a balance bill. Ask if the provider is obligated to accept the insurance as payment in full. Some states have enacted legislation to deal with this problem. Washington has law that forbids a provider from billing a patient if they’ve signed a contract agreeing to accept what the insurance pays. California also passed recent legislation forbidding balance billing.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Don Jacobs

Toyota recalls 4 million cars

Don Jacobs — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:52:52 GMT

Toyota just issued a warning to consumers about a defective floor mat that can force down the accelerator pedal on many of their popular models. The mats have already been cited as the cause of four deaths in September of 2009 when an off duty California state trooper and three family members were involved in a fatal collision in the San Diego area while driving a 2009 Lexus ES350. A 911 tape from just before the crash recorded one of the passengers in the vehicle as saying the accelerator was stuck and the car was reaching 120 miles per hour. Investigators from Toyota have concluded the driver side floor mats can become loose and cause an accelerator pedal to become stuck. When this occurs, the car rapidly accelerates and attempts to brake or shut off the ignition often can’t be done quickly enough to prevent a dangerous situation. Toyota has now issued a recall for select models. The recall includes the popular Prius hybrid. Other models involved include the Camry and the Avalon, as well the popular Tundra and Tacoma pickup trucks. Models recalled from the Lexus line are the IS250, IS350 and ES350 sedans. A U.S. government agency recently reported it has received over 100 reports of problems caused by the defective floor mats. Of those, 17 involved vehicle crashes and five of those involved fatalities. The company and U.S. safety regulators have now issued warnings to consumers to immediately remove all driver-side floor mats from eight Toyota and Lexus models manufactured in the last six years. Details as to specific models affected can be found at Toyota’s website, http://www.toyota.com or by calling Toyota at 1-800-331-4331 or Lexus at 1-800-255-3987.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Don Jacobs

The importance of following your physician's instructions

Don Jacobs — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:40:00 GMT

By now we’ve probably all seen those video exposes of people ostensibly disabled getting caught skiing, golfing, or working construction. Some of these folks are in fact, probably committing insurance fraud. However, some of them may simply have succumbed to the normal human urge to stop following doctor’s orders as soon as they begin to feel better. This is common enough that the Food and Drug Administration has a special page dedicated to telling America why this is a bad idea. We all should be following doctor’s orders for health reasons. Those of us involved in litigation, have extra reasons to take every pill, do every stretch, and show up for every appointment.

The main reason is that in many ways a lawsuit is like the social scene in junior high school. Someone is always watching and waiting for you to make a mistake, in which they can rub your nose until you finally drop out of school in embarrassment and run off to join the circus. Well, not that last part so much, but the attorneys for the other side will absolutely be watching for any mistakes, legal and otherwise. Insurance companies will absolutely leap on any sign that your injuries are less severe than you claim. And juries love to punish plaintiffs they think are trying to cheat. Nothing is going to hurt your chances more than a jury watching video some insurance company investigator has clandestinely taken of you jumping off the roof of your house after you finish re-shingling it.

As an injured plaintiff you probably know little about the law, so you can’t do anything about legal errors. That’s what you pay your attorney for. You can however, make sure that you are following the instructions given by your doctors. If you have been injured by the negligence of another you have every right to be made whole. Your attorney would love to help you do this, and in fact has spent an amazing amount of money and time learning how to do it right. However, he or she cannot do it if you fail to do your job. Which is almost always simply to get better.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Don Jacobs

Texting while driving

Don Jacobs — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:33:00 GMT

In this day and age it seems like everyone is always “plugged-in.” Whether it’s an iPhone, a Blackberry, a laptop, or just a cell phone people always seem to be exchanging communication with one another. But what happens when we drive? Do we stop talking or texting or emailing so we can focus on the road? If you’ve been out driving in the last few year then you know the answer is no. We’ve all almost been run off the road by the jerk on the cell phone. So how dangerous is cell phone use while driving, really? And what’s being done to control it?

In 2005, motor vehicle traffic fatalities accounted for 37 percent of unintentional fatal injuries – more than 43,600 deaths. Research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tells us that nearly 80 percent of crashes involve some form of driver distraction. A new Virginia Tech study, which entailed outfitting the cabs of long-haul trucks with video cameras over 18 months, found that when the drivers texted, their collision risk was 23 times greater than when not texting. Research from the University of Utah, which used a driving simulator to study the ability of motorists to multitask, found an eightfold greater risk of crashing when texting. By comparison, Utah researchers showed that drivers using a cell phone to talk face a four times greater risk of crashing, about equal to someone with a 0.08 blood alcohol level, generally the legal limit for intoxication. While people may not think texting while driving is distracting, it takes much more of the driver’s attention away from the road. Sending text messages is a much higher risk activity that occurs for a longer duration and with more people than most other actions engaged in while driving.

Many states have decided to do something about the problem. Currently, eighteen states and the District of Columbia now ban text messaging for all drivers. Nine states prohibit text messaging by novice drivers, and one state restricts school bus drivers from texting while driving. Recently, Senators have sought to ban a measure on texting while driving in all states. Under the measure, states would have two years to outlaw the sending of text and e-mail messages by drivers or lose 25 percent of their highway money each year until the money was depleted. States that do not ban texting by drivers could forfeit hundreds of millions of dollars in federal highway funds under this legislation.

Legislation or not, texting while driving is not safe. Many accidents can be avoided just by paying less attention to our phone and more attention to the road ahead. Remember, that text message will be there when the drive is over, but if you answer that text, you might not be.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Don Jacobs

Mediation

Don Jacobs — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 12:59:00 GMT

More and more automobile collision claims are being resolved by mediation. Mediation is a process by which an impartial mediator assists two or more parties to reach a common goal. Mediation is used in a variety of contexts ranging from legal, commercial, diplomatic, workplace, community and family matters.

It's a process that dates back to the times of ancient Greece and became more fully developed at the height of the Roman civilization. That's how long it's been around. What makes mediation such an effective process to endure the tests of time is that power, still rests in the parties. By power I mean the power to negotiate effectively without letting emotions or outside influences get in the way.

Mediation cuts to the chase. The number one reason why "battling it out in court" can be so ineffective is due to the time that is allowed to go through the motions of pre-trial, discovery and a very much later trial date. Mediation puts all that aside and doesn't concern issues like fault, negligence, evidence or procedure. It simply presents the opportunity for parties to resolve their differences immediately so that the time, stress and money of litigation can be saved.

Another perk is confidentiality. In most states judgments are of public record and these days can be viewed online. So in many cases, like for instance custody battles, people would want such matters kept private and rightfully so.

"So what should I expect at mediation?" Well as one attorney put it:

Many times, the mediation will begin with all parties and their attorneys together in one room, with the mediator directing general discussions about issues in the case. Then the parties may break up, with the plaintiffs and their attorneys in one room, and the defendant and their attorneys in a different room. The mediator will travel back and forth between the rooms, conveying offers and counter-offers. The mediator may also provide helpful or commentary and suggestions but the parties are not required to follow these suggestions.

Because it is non-binding, parties often approach the situation in a much more calm and less "guarded" manner which more often than not equates to an amicable agreement.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Don Jacobs

Low settlements top insurance complaints in 2008

Don Jacobs — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 15:33:00 GMT

The office of the State Insurance Commissioner is charged with overseeing the business of insurance in Washington. The agency plays an important consumer watchdog role in making sure Washington citizens don’t get fleeced or treated unfairly by an insurance company. Complaints to the agency are investigated and sometimes action is taken against an insurance company to force them to pay what they should have in the first place. The Insurance Commissioner’s office received over 5,000 citizen complaints against insurance companies in 2008. The agency recovered more than 10.5 million dollars for Washington consumers as a result. A recent news release from the Washington State Insurance Commissioner’s office detailed the top three reasons consumers file complaints against auto insurance companies. The three were - unsatisfactory settlement offers, claim denials and unnecessary delays. Low settlement offers topped the list by a wide margin. The largest number involved auto insurance companies. In fact, auto insurance companies generated more complaints than health and homeowners insurance combined. Consumers in Washington often have a lot of dissatisfaction after dealing with an insurance company. People who are having problems with their insurance company can call an Insurance Commissioner Hotline at 1-800-562-6900. They can also file complaints online at http://www.insurance.gov/. The news release contained a quote from Washington’s elected Insurance Commissioner Ron Kreidler, “Consumer protection is my top priority. Whether you need us to investigate a complaint, act as a mediator, explain your rights or just answer a question, my office is here to help.”

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Don Jacobs

Truck accidents on the rise

Don Jacobs — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 12:53:02 GMT

A news release from US Newswire recently disclosed that thousands of trucking companies regularly violate federal safety regulations. Data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) was analyzed. Examples of the violations included inadequate insurance, bald tires, defective brakes and loads that dangerously exceed weight limits. Drivers with little or no training and drivers with a history of drug and alcohol dependency were also cited. The data is alarming. These vehicles share the road with every on of us. Drivers falsifying log books to show they haven’t been on the road too long with lack of sleep has always been a problem. So has the practice of trucking companies pushing drivers to do deliver loads quicker to maximize profit. Truckers know if they don’t cut corners, the company will hire someone who will. And independent operators make more money the more loads they pick up and deliver. Working long hours, ignoring speed limits and driving when fatigued are all common factors cited in semi truck accidents. So how many unsafe trucks are on the road? The FMCSA data on safety records and performance of American trucking companies revealed the violations involved over 200,000 trucks currently being operated on the highways. The data also revealed that over 4,000 people die every year and over 80,000 are seriously injured in accidents involving trucks. And the vast majority of people killed and injured are not the truck drivers. The victims are the drivers and passengers of the cars they hit. Though trucks make up less than 4 percent of all vehicles on the road, they are involved in 12 percent of all traffic fatalities. While the number of unsafe trucks on the road is alarming, the numbers cited by the FMCSA are likely just the tip of the iceberg. Many deadly accidents involving unsafe trucks are not recorded as safety violations. In 2005, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a study that showed nearly one third of trucking accidents the states are required to report to the federal government were never reported. In 2009 a GAO study found that more than 1,000 trucking companies that were ordered to close due to safety violations, simply reopened under a different name, often with the same owner, same company address and the same drivers. The federal data from the FMCSA ranked states that had trucking companies with violations of safety requirements above the national average. Unfortunately, Oregon was one of them. A listing of trucking companies operating in violation of federal safety standards can be found at www.justice.org/trucksafetyviolations.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Don Jacobs

When to ask for a referral to a specialist

Don Jacobs — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 19:01:51 GMT

The phrase “can I get a second opinion” has been satirized throughout medical history, however this simple question could mean the difference between a fair and reasonable settlement, or years of payment on medical bills. Far too often injuries which go untreated or do not resolve themselves could have been helped by a second opinion, and as a result, go unsettled in the courtroom. When involved in litigation over medical injuries a second opinion might be the best opinion.

Consider that you’re faced with the possibility of expensive surgery and years of rehab, or the possibility of medication and a quick recovery. The first recommendation was suggested to you by the doctor you saw immediately after the accident. The second by another doctor shortly thereafter. The option of medication was not suggested at first, but it may be a much more cost effective and medically safe option.

A study published in “the annals of surgical oncology” stated that getting a second opinion on conditions such as breast cancer “changed the initial diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment in 80% of the 340 study subjects.”

Getting a second opinion also shows due diligence. If you are not recovering, a second opinion can bolster your evidentiary support of injury and need for medical care.

When seeking a second opinion it is also important to check your insurance plan to see what it will cover. Though insurance companies might limit your choice of doctors, plans should still allow for second opinions, although prior authorization may be necessary.

An important tip when seeking a second opinion is to make sure your medical records have been sent to the second medical professional. The actual copies of MRI film or other scans are usually more helpful to the second provider than simply the report by the first doctor.

If you have persisting medical injuries that are not healing or progressing, this is an excellent time to seek a second opinion. In fact, if you don't, it may be used against you in court. Allowing the first doctor’s opinion to go unchallenged can look as though the patient has assented to the care and didn't want other advice. Doing the appropriate due diligence and preliminary work in regards to medical treatment can help you not only in the hospital, but also in the court room.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Don Jacobs