Archive for category Car Accident Lawyers
Legal News Missouri Underinsured Motorist Coverage: Are You and Your Family Adequately Covered?
Posted by Lawyer in Car Accident Lawyers on May 31, 2012
If you were involved in a Kansas City, Missouri car accident today due to someone else’s negligence, do you know what benefits YOUR OWN auto insurance provides? What if the negligent driver only has $25,000 in coverage and your bills alone are $50,000? Will your insurance company pay the difference? You might need a Missouri car accident attorney . See: http://www.castlelaw-kc.com In Missouri, you can purchase optional coverage known as underinsured motorist coverage (also known as UIM) and insurance agents do not always go out of their way to tell you about this coverage because it typically costs very little for that extra protection.
What is UIM coverage?
UIM coverage protects you in the event that a negligent driver is underinsured, meaning your injuries and damages exceed that driver’s policy limits. The state of Missouri only requires that drivers carry minimum policy limits of $25,000. That may be fine in your average fender bender but $25,000 is typically not enough if you are seriously injured. Following a four day hospitalization as a result of injuries sustained in a car crash, you could incur upwards of $50,000 or more in initial medical expenses, not including the ongoing treatment you will likely need such as physical therapy and/or surgery.
How much UIM coverage do you need?
In order for UIM coverage to apply, you have to have more coverage than the other driver. If you only have $25,000 policy limits, the minimum required insurance, UIM coverage will not provide any additional coverage or benefit to you because UIM pays the difference and if both parties have the same amount of coverage, there is no difference to pay. In other words, if the other driver has $25,000 in coverage, and you have $100,000 in underinsured motorist coverage, your insurance will pay up to $75,000 for a total of $100,000. So you need to purchase at least $50,000 policy limits with the same amount for underinsured motorist coverage. We typically recommend that you purchase $100,000 in policy limits with uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, though. The additional cost of that extra security is minimal, especially when compared to the cost of a devastating car accident with significant bills and not enough money to pay the providers who will go after you for payment, not the negligent driver.
Find out how Massachusetts ranks in injury death rate
Posted by Lawyer in Car Accident Lawyers on May 25, 2012
Massachusetts has the third lowest rate of injury death in the country, according to a new study. A new report titled “The Facts Hurt: A State-By-State Injury Prevention Policy Report” examines key indicators of steps states can take to prevent injuries. See Boston Car Accident Attorneys Injuries may be linked to Massachusetts car accidents or motorcycle crashes in Massachusetts.
The report, released by the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), concludes that millions of injuries could be prevented each year if more states took action such as adopting additional research-based injury prevention policies. The report also recommends fully implementing and enforcing programs.
While the average score for states is 5 out of 10, Massachusetts received a 7 out of 10 score (with zero being the lowest and 10 being the highest possible score). Only New York and New Jersey have lower injury death rates in the nation.
Injury prevention strategies include requiring bicycle helmets for all children and helmets for all bicycle riders. Some states require mandatory ignition interlocks for convicted drunk drivers. Seat belt laws also are recommended for injury prevention.
Discover the alarming fatality statistics linked to failure to wear seat belts
Posted by Lawyer in Car Accident Lawyers on May 22, 2012
Seat belts save lives. It’s not just an empty slogan. The Missouri Department of Transportation has startling facts about the link between fatalities and the failure to wear seat belts: Seven out of 10 Missourians killed in traffic crashes in 2011 were unbuckled, and three out of four teens killed in 2011 traffic crashes were not wearing a seat belt. Only 67 percent of Missouri teens (13-19) wear seat belts.
As Missourians killed in traffic crashes in 2011 , we have seen the devastating effects caused by not wearing a seat belt. The proper use of seat belts reduces the risk of serious injuries and even death. In Missouri, 79 percent of the citizens wear seat belts, but the state’s seat belt usage rage is well below the national average of 85 percent.
The Missouri Highway Patrol, Department of Transportation and local law enforcement are cracking down on wearing seatbelts from May 21 – June 3 with their “Click It or Ticket” campaign.
While it’s frustrating to be handed a fine for not being buckled up, the risks of not wearing a seat belt are just too great to ignore the law. In 2011, 784 Missourians were killed in traffic crashes. If everyone were buckled up, the number of deaths likely would be lower.
As of May 6, 2012, there were 255 traffic fatalities in Missouri, an increase of 22 percent when compared to roughly the same time period in 2011 (208 fatalities).
The good news is that Missouri car accident deaths have dropped 37.6 percent since 2005. But Missouri traffic fatality statistics reveal much work is needed to drive the numbers down even further.
In Missouri, 30 percent of traffic deaths involve an impaired driver. The leading causes of car accidents include speeding, driving under the influence and inattention.
Drivers Show Disconnect in Attitudes about Distracted Driving Raleigh News 5
Posted by Lawyer in Car Accident Lawyers on May 18, 2012
How many times have you been cut off in traffic, or watched another driver run a stop sign, only to notice that the driver was talking on a cell phone?
How many times have you yourself started to veer toward other cars when you stumbled to reach your cell phone or tried to respond to a friend’s text?
Most drivers recognize that cell phones are a distraction that can be dangerous on the road. Yet few drivers want to give up the convenience of ‘talking or texting while theyre driving.
An article in USA Today
Cell Phones and Safe Driving
Data about the dangers of texting or talking on a cell phone while driving is unclear. While the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that cell phones were a factor in about 13 percent of fatal crashes See: Personal Injury Lawyers Charlotte North Carolina last year, officials note that reporting is unreliable. Drivers are not likely to report that they were engaging in risky behavior while driving, such as talking on a cell phone or texting, especially if those behaviors have been banned in that region.
USA Today reports that the National Transportation Safety Board called on states in December to ban handheld and hands-free cell phone use while driving.
