I was driving to work this morning down Highway 42 and as I approached the light at the Prospect Point Shopping Center the traffic light turned yellow. I looked at the intersection to make sure that there were no cars coming through the opposite direction and then I looked in my rear view mirror to make sure that I wasn’t being tailgated by someone in a hurry to get to work. I usually stop if I can, mainly because I have seen so many intersection accidents that turn into a swearing contest. I elected to stop as there wasn’t anyone behind me. I did not want to be in a traffic accident, whether it was being t-boned by a car running a red light or someone who rear ended me because they were following too closely.

            Should I go or should I stop. What is the law in Kentucky? I guess there is no answer that covers every situation, but the Kentucky Court of Appeals recently addressed this issue in an opinion that is not to be published.  Trent v. Telco Coal Corporation, et al out of Perry Circuit Court In a nut shell, the plaintiff stopped at a traffic light that had turned yellow. A coal truck that the plaintiff had just passed hit the plaintiff in the rear. The defendant stated that he was following too close and assumed the car would go through the light. As Felix Unger said “when you assume you make an ass of u and me”. You should always expect the unexpected.

            The Kentucky Statutes requires a driver to operate their vehicle in “a careful manner, with regard for the safety and convenience of pedestrians and other vehicles on the highway”. The purpose of a yellow light only warns a motorist that the green movement is being terminated. There is no requirement to stop.

            The court determined, among other things, whether the plaintiff violated any statutory duties in stopping at the yellow light. It was noted that a driver of a car that strikes another car in thee rear is not automatically liable. The plaintiff must prove that they did something wrong.

            The jury found both drivers partially at fault. The real question for the Court of Appeals was whether the jury instructions were correct (which they were found to be), but we won’t go there because it is to far removed from my yellow light on the way to work.

            The bottom line is being careful and aware of your circumstance while driving. You may be responsible for causing an accident if you stop at a yellow light. Always do what you can to avoid an accident. This will keep you, your family and others on Kentucky roadways safer.

      Facebook, Twitter, My Space and other social networking sites are becoming more and more popular not only with kids but with all age groups.  You may have read about employers using these sites to help screen job applicants or to check up on their employees.  There are recent cases where jury verdicts have been over turned because jurors had made updates on their social networking site during the trial.  Everyone is on Facebook. Everyone is tweeting.

      Guess what? These sites are not just for fun and keeping up with friends.  Insurance companies and their attorneys are using these sites too.  Adjusters are checking Facebook, Twitter, etc. and looking at blogs to get information about the accident victim.  There may be valuable information about you on these sites that could severely damage your Kentucky auto accident case.

      The insurance adjusters’ job is to pay you as little as they possibly can on your injury claim. Social media sites and blogs can help them accomplish their objective.  You voluntarily put all of your personal information on these sites.  You load personal photos on these sites.  Friends make comments about you. You put videos on YouTube.  Internet surveillance may be the only investigation the insurance company has to do.

      Why are insurance companies looking at social media sites?

·          To confirm or disprove the severity of your injury.

·          To confirm or disprove your ability to perform activities and sports.

·          To confirm or disprove your ability to work.

·          To confirm or disprove whether you interact normally with friends and family.

      Pictures, videos, personal information, posts and comments can wreck your case.  When you become an accident victim, you begin living in a glass house.  You MUST be aware of how your pictures and comments will be viewed.  Sometimes even the most innocent and seemingly irrelevant things can be twisted to make it look as if you were not injured or that you are lying about being injured.  Just look at what happened to Michael Phelps.

      Even making the pages private may not stop the insurance company from seeing it.  You may inadvertently make a friend or follower out of someone the adjuster knows.  You make a friend or follower out of the law clerk of the attorney that represents the insurance company.  If your case goes to Court, the Judge may order you to produce your social media page.

I know you are not going to quit using these sites, but here are some tips in dealing with your social media pages:

• Don’t post anything you wouldn’t feel comfortable having the insurance adjuster read.

Be Careful!

• Check your privacy settings and block anyone you do not know from viewing your personal pages.

• Search your name on all sites that you are a member of and on Google to see what comes up.  See what photos you have been tagged in and take the appropriate action to remove photos you are not comfortable with.

• Do not accept any friend requests or answer any e-mails from people you don’t know.

THE BOTTOM LINE…USE COMMON SENSE AND PROTECT YOURSELF AS YOU USE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA SITES.   They are fun and they are addictive, but they can be used against you in many different ways.

At a seminar a couple of weeks ago I was walking past the exhibitors tables when a broken bicycle fork caught my eye. Since I ride my road bike 2 to 5 days a week during the summer (it seems I am becoming more and more of a weekend warrior) this grabbed my attention. I stopped and began speaking with Erin Higinbotham, a licensed engineer from Robson Forensic. These expert witnesses testify in many types of accident cases, including what I was interested in at that moment, a broken front carbon fork on a road bike.

My curiosity got me and I asked what happened. This particular case involved a man who crashed his bike and was paralyzed. Witnesses related that the biker was suddenly catapulted from his bike and landed on his head. The biker did nothing to cause the accident and it was related that only the front fork of the bike appeared to be damaged. Robson determined that the crash was caused by a sudden defect in the fork of the bicycle. The failure of the fork caused the bike to come to an abrupt stop and catapult the biker off of the bike.

Testing of carbon forks has shown that they can fail under stress past their yield point. The carbon forks are extremely light and make bikes handle better. They also make the ride more comfortable. Unfortunately when stress is placed on a carbon fork past the yield point they will eventually collapse. This stress can be from running into a curb or hitting a pothole. I was told that it can occur over time just from wear and tear. It was explained that the resin is strong but it is a wrap.  This wrap can loose its integrity easier then a steel fork.

I ride a Lemond Zurich that is part carbon, including the fork. I went home and immediately examined my fork to make sure I didn’t see any signs of stress. Thankfully everything looked okay. I am not screaming the sky is falling. I just urge cyclists to examine their equipment regularly or have a qualified technician look at it to make sure there are no structural problems with your bike. I ride the roads of Jefferson and Oldham County regularly. These roads are dangerous enough for bikers. Bicycle accidents can occur due to inattentive drivers of cars and trucks. Bicycle safety has to be a priority. We need to do everything we can to be safe and minimize the chance of an accident and make Kentucky roads safe.

Having no car insurance can have a negative impact on your car accident case. Today it is more important then ever to have not only car insurance, but really good car insurance coverage. Why? That is easy, because more and more people are driving without car insurance. They are rolling the dice and hoping they don’t get caught. This is very short sighted. Most are thinking about not getting a “no insurance” ticket. Not getting pulled over by the police. If they are in an automobile accident it will be much worse on them then any citation the police may issue you.

First if you are in an accident in Kentucky that is not your fault, that is someone else hits you, and you do not have car coverage the ramifications can be devastating to you. First you had better have health insurance or you are personally responsible for your medical bills. I know the chance of there being health insurance coverage is unlikely if you don’t have car insurance.

This is going to sound crazy but it is the law. You are responsible for your first $10,000.00 in medical bills. The at-fault insurance company, if there is in fact one, is not responsible for the first $10,000.00 in medical expenses. It doesn’t matter how severe the accident is or how badly you are injured. You are out of luck.

I had a client in my office today that has a little over $9,000.00 in medical bills and she is responsible for them. It is very sad because she has no money to pay her bills and no health insurance. The insurance company knows the law and is using this fact for their benefit. The offer is low for the pain and suffering. There is just not enough money to go around. The bills can be negotiated but she will not get what her case is really worth because of this. To make matters worse, she was charged with a criminal offense of “No Insurance” even thought the accident wasn’t her fault.

What would have made matters worse is if the at-fault car had no insurance. If this was the case there would be no insurance money at all. The only recourse would be to go against the assets of the person that caused the accident. In most cases there is nothing there.

The point of all of this is to make sure you have auto insurance. It is your job to financially protect your family. You should have coverage and it should be good coverage. If you are I a horrific accident and can’t work or are killed what will happen to your family? Good insurance will not replace you but your family will be able to keep their house and pay the bills. Check out your insurance policy.

I have written a book entitled “What You Don’t Know About Buying Car Insurance Can Hurt You”. If you are a Kentucky residence order a copy and get the information you need to financially protect your family.

Jury trials are a mystery to most people. They are misunderstood by the general public, especially on the civil side. We see representations of criminal trials on television shows from cop to lawyer shows. We also see small snapshots of criminal trials on local and national news shows. Civil trials do not get the attention that criminal trials do. They are not as glamorous I guess. What happens in a civil jury trial? As a trial attorney that handles auto accidents and all other types of accident cases in Kentucky I know what happens during the course of a jury trial. I know what happens during the litigation of accident cases. Unfortunately most people have no idea what really happens in a civil jury trial. This is because of the lack of opportunity in almost all cases.

I have read an interesting Blog last week entitled the Buddha Diaries. The May 28, 2009 entry of this blog is a journal by the blog author of his experience as a juror on a personal injury trial before the Los Angeles Superior Court. This is a very interesting read for anyone who has ever wondered what happens in a jury trial, and more specifically what goes through a jurors mind while sitting on a jury and ultimately verdict deliberation. This a great read to learn about an auto accident trial from the juror’s perspective. You will see what happens from jury selection, opening statement, witness testimony, closing arguments and jury deliberations. This blog relates the jurors experience in an auto accident case that involved a serious back injury with surgery. A great read for those interested in auto accident litigation or jury psychology.

I was driving down I-64 this morning headed to Berea, KY to meet with a new client. I was traveling in the fast lane with the flow of traffic. I will not say how fast, but I may have been fracturing a law.  I looked in my rear view mirror and there was a car tailgating me big time. There wasn’t more than six feet between my rear bumper and her front bumper. There were cars I was passing on my left, yet the car was still on me like glue.

Once traffic cleared slightly I stayed put and I was passed on the right hand side with a death stare from the tailgater. The car went on to the next car at a high rate of speed and got right up on the rear bumper. That car went into the right lane to let the tailgater pass and on the car went. At one point the tailgater attempted to make another right lane pass. The pass was made past one car and then the tailgater made a quick turn back in front of the car it had just passed. I have seen cars have more trouble parallel parking in that amount of space! I must say it took quite a lot of skill to make that maneuver.  

Luckily there was no accident. This same sort of activity went on for about thirty miles until we reached the Frankfort exit. As all this was going on I had continued to travel with the flow of traffic. Over those thirty miles I had only loss about eight car lengths on the tailgater. You can’t go too far in rush hour traffic.

Aggressive tailgating is a major cause of car accidents. Some studies suggest that following too closely is the cause of 40% of traffic accidents. When you are driving to close your reaction time is slowed, you can’t see the road way ahead, and you may not have enough time to stop if the car in front of you stops abruptly. Remember, most tailgaters are in a hurry and likely in a bad mood leading to poor decision making while driving, especially in heavy rush hour traffic. Be smart and keep a safe distance between your car and the car in front of you. Make sure you have control of your car. If someone is tailgating you should probably let them pass and not stay in front of them like I did this morning.

Prevent accidents don’t cause accidents. I would estimate that 80% of all accidents in my office are rear end collisions. Of those I would wager that at least half were caused by somone following too close to the car in front of them. Don’t tailgate. You will likely arrive alive and only a few seconds later.

I witnessed a staged car crash last Friday in downtown Louisville! The Kentucky Justice Association put on a phenomenal seminar on Auto Damages which I had the privilege of going to. I normally don’t say that because seminars can be boring. Accident reconstruction experts Sonny Cease and Rob Miller planned and stage the car crash as part of the day long seminar.

I was taken by bus from the Marriot to a parking lot on River Road to watch a staged car crash. This was a lot more than a bunch of lawyers who were kids at heart crashing cars. The accident was set up to demonstrate the dynamics of a car accident, how to determine speed from the crush of the vehicles, how to obtain information from the black box ( all cars will be required to have this after 2010) , how to use that information obtained and how the occupant of the bullet vehicle reacted to the impact. This was a fascinating event to say the least. There were cameras and monitors set up every where. Cameras were on top of adjacent buildings and on the inside of the bullet car. The safety of the driver of the bullet car was a concern. A protective vest, gloves, helmet and knee pads were worn. This is not a job I would want, no matter how many precautions are taken. The Louisville Fire Department and the Louisville Metro Police Department were also on hand.

I have witnessed automobile accidents before. I have been in minor car accidents myself. I have been to the scene of many motor vehicle accidents. It is totally different when you know it is going to happen. The anticipation is odd. The violent nature of the impact was more severe than I imagined it would be. I was surprised when I found out the speed of the bullet vehicle at impact with the parked car was 27 mph. It seemed a whole lot faster. Needless to say, this experience has given me a new perspective on what accident victims go through. The violent nature of the crash is something you can not explain without being there. Check out the video I took and see for yourself.

Running a red light is dangerous for everyone on the road. I drive in downtown Louisville every day and there isn’t one single day that goes by that I don’t witness a red light being run by a car that either isn’t paying attention or is in a hurry. Whether it is texting and driving or being late for work, to a majority of the population in Louisville, Kentucky a yellow light seems to mean to press the right foot hard on the accelerator. If you have a green light you had better check to make sure that the coast is clear in the other direction or you could be broad sided and find yourself an auto accident victim.  People are in a hurry and they are disregarding this simple traffic control device more and more often.

A few years I was waiting at the corner of Muhammad Ali Blvd. and 5^th Street to cross. The white walker began flashing and I took one step from the curb into the crosswalk. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something and jumped back. This was just in time to see a bus miss my nose by about six inches. Once I started breathing again I thanked God for sparing me and said a few choice words about the bus driver. My point is you should assume that there will be a car running a red light. Whether you are a pedestrian, bicyclist, riding a motorcycle or in a car you are in danger anytime you go through an intersection.

Napa Valley, California has installed cameras at several intersections and has been recording violations and issuing warnings by mail to the violators for the last 30 days. Starting this past Saturday violators are getting a ticket for $435 and photographic evidence that they ran a red light.  This evidence includes a color photo of the driver, the license plate, the traffic light changing to red before they entered the intersection and a final picture of the car in the intersection. Although I can see some due process violations I believe that these cameras would have a deterrent effect on those thinking of pressing hard on the accelerator and attempting to beat the light. There are warnings of the existence of the cameras before the intersection. I believe these cameras will save lives. It will be interesting to see the statistics after ninety days to see if this is the case.

Maybe it is time for Louisville to think about buying cameras for some of the busier intersections. I believe it can do nothing but make our Kentucky roads safer and help prevent many tragic auto accidents.