By Pat George
A Nampa man who was driving drunk struck a 19 year old pedestrian in March, 2015. It’s a tragedy that plays itself out all too often across Idaho almost everyday. In 2012, one third of the accident fatalities across our great state were alcohol related. What this means is that innocent people in Idaho were killed leaving family and friends due to no fault of their own. Of course, this does not include those people who were injured but not fatally.
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By Brent Roche
Spoliation of evidence is a rule of evidence that applies when there is an intentional destruction of relevant documents or objects. If a party to a lawsuit is guilty of spoliation of evidence, the presiding judge may instruct the jury that they may presume that the destroyed evidence would have been adverse to the party who intentionally destroyed it. The party is free to try to overcome the negative presumption by presenting other evidence addressing the issue in question. An example of spoliation of evidence is where a tire manufacturer, who received an allegedly defective tire that was believed to have caused an accident, discards the tire before the victim’s representatives have examined and tested the tire.
An opportunity to collect some evidence can be forever lost unless prompt action is taken soon after an injury accident. Preservation of evidence can greatly assist an injured person pursuing an injury claim. For example, the severity of a traumatic injury is best shown with pictures of bruising, swelling, abrasions and lacerations. Likewise, most newer cars and trucks have “black boxes” that record key data for use in reconstructing an accident. When your car or the other vehicle is totaled it is important to talk with your insurance agent or lawyer about arranging for an expert to download the data from the vehicles before they are sold for salvage.
Every type of civil lawsuit is governed by a statute of limitations. A statute of limitations is a time frame for when a lawsuit must be filed. If a lawsuit is not filed within the applicable statute of limitations, generally the claim is forever barred. This means that if a person was seriously injured by someone else, but did not file a lawsuit within the applicable statute of limitation, the injured person will never be able to recover any funds for his or her injuries. The statute of limitations even protects the person at fault’s insurance company. In Idaho, the statute of limitations for personal injuries is generally two years from the date of the accident. Some exceptions do apply, including an exception for minors. The two year statute of limitations will apply even if the injured person is still getting treatment from the accident. The two year statute of limitations will also apply even if the injured person is negotiating a settlement with the person at fault’s insurance company.
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By Josh Johnson
Most of the time when a person is injured in a vehicle accident, that person will have to deal with one or more insurance companies. The insurance companies will then assign an adjuster to the claim. The adjusters analyze the claim for fault and damages. Most of the time, the very first document an adjuster reviews, whether from the injured party’s insurance company or the person at fault’s insurance company, is the police report. The police report is also heavily analyzed by the attorney retained by the insurance company if a lawsuit is filed. It is very important to provide the responding police officer with accurate information about the accident, including any pain or discomfort that the injured person may be having.
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I was injured in a motor vehicle collision that was not my fault. My insurance company paid for my medical bills and now they are telling me that they have a right of subrogation in my claim against the at-fault party. What does that mean?
Subrogation is the substitution of one party for another whose debt the party pays, entitling the paying party to rights, remedies, or securities that would otherwise belong to the debtor. Said otherwise, pursuant to the language which is probably in your insurance policy, when your insurance company paid your medical bills and those bills were incurred due to the negligence of another, your insurance company has the right to be paid back. The insurance company can sue the at-fault party seeking reimbursement or alternatively, they can obtain recovery through you in your claim/lawsuit against the at-fault party. When the at-fault party (or their insurance company) pays you to resolve the claim, a portion of those proceeds will need to go to your insurance company unless your insurance company agrees to waive all or a portion of their subrogation rights.
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By Pat George
As everyone in Idaho knows, a person must wear a seat belt whenever a vehicle is in motion because they will protect you if you are involved in any car accident. However, the Idaho Legislature just made this law even more important. Recently, the Idaho Legislature enacted a statute that could have a large impact on a person who has not used a seat belt and is injured in a car accident. If the failure to wear the seat belt caused the injuries to be more severe than they would have been had the injured person been wearing a seat belt, that evidence can be admitted. This would reduce the injured person’s recovery. The moral of this story is that seat belt is more important than ever.
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By Fred Lewis and George Casper
Picture this. You get into a car accident and the other motorist is found to be negligent. You file a lawsuit in order to have the other motorist’s insurance pay for any vehicle damages, lost wages, medical bills and pain and suffering. You find out that the other motorist has an insurance policy that only covers up to $25,000 (the legal minimum) of damages that result from an accident. Your damages, wage losses, and medical bills amount to over $400,000 dollars. What do you do in order to get the rest of your claim paid for?
Unfortunately, the scenario described above happens all too often. Underinsured motorist’s can leave drivers on the wrong end of a car accident with feelings of anger and frustration. In order to prevent these feelings, make sure that you check your own auto insurance policy and see what the limits are for car accidents with underinsured drivers. Buy as much underinsured coverage as you can reasonably afford. It is one of the best insurance values available.
By Pat George
A recent study shows that 40% of U.S. drivers will doze off while their driving at some point in their lives. This fact is frightening not just for drivers across the country, but right here in Idaho. In fact, in 2009 there were 563 car accidents due to drowsy driving. Driving drowsy is just as dangerous as drunk driving since fatigue slows reaction time and impairs judgment.
Its important to report those drivers that you suspect are impaired while driving whether this is due to alcohol or fatigue. This protects you, your loved ones, and all of us in Idaho.
By: Fred Lewis and George Casper
Driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs is a serious issue for today’s motorists. It is one of the main causes for car accidents in the United States. In 2013 alone, over 32,000 people were killed in alcohol-related car accidents. Thousands of others have suffered serious personal injury. If you are involved in an automobile accident with somebody who has had one, two, or ten drinks too many, you need to seek legal action against that driver.
If you do decide to bring suit against an impaired driver (you’d be misguided not to), it is important to know where the person was drinking. According to Idaho Code 23-808, the business selling the alcohol to the drunk driver can be indicted as a co-contributor to the car accident under dram shop liability. Dram shop law states that liability can be thrust upon establishments that provide alcoholic beverages if they sell drinks to visibly intoxicated persons or minors who subsequently cause death or injury to third parties not associated with the establishment. Dram shop can be especially useful if the drunk driver who caused the car accident is either underinsured or uninsured.
By: Fred Lewis and George Casper
It is widely said that there are two certainties in life: death and taxes. This statement is incorrect. There are actually three certainties in life: death, taxes, and car accidents. Ever since Henry Ford created an assembly line able mass produce his Model-T at an affordable price for all middle-class Americans, there have been car accidents. There are, on average, about 10 million car accidents a year in the United States. This figure includes every type of car accident from the minor scrape to the colossal, car-totaling catastrophes that generally result in personal injury. It is said that the average person gets into 3 to 4 automobile accidents in their driving lifetime, so why increase the chances by using a cell phone while driving? Most everyone knows that using a cell phone while driving is dangerous, but still do it anyways. This is especially true for the younger population, whom consider their cell phone to be their lifeline to society.
A study conducted in 2006 by David Strayer, Frank Drews, and Dennis Crouch on the effects of operating a cell phone while driving found drivers using cell phones “actually exhibit greater impairments (i.e., more accidents and less responsive driving behavior) than legally intoxicated drivers.” To put this in perspective, the most recent traffic safety data found that 32,719 people died from alcohol-impaired driving crashes in the United States. The phrase “using cell phones” includes taking phone calls, texting, and using hands-free technology. Texting was found to be the most dangerous from of cell phone use for fairly obvious reasons. The Idaho State Legislature enacted Idaho Code 49-1401A in 2012 in order to ban texting while driving.
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