Automobile fatalities rate increase each year, especially among young drivers in Kentucky. As a parent of a 17 and 22 year old daughters this concerns me. I have seen many gadgets and programs that are available to educate or prevent serious injury and fatal accidents among student drivers. Parents and teenagers should take a look at this newly launched smartphone application by WirelessESP that keeps young drivers, or anyone for that matter that is addicted to texting while driving, safe on the road called the “Speedbump”.
Speedbump is a GPS vehicle tracking device invented by a teen named Jon Fischer and ensures teen driving safety which respects their privacy and independence. It’s the world’s first mobile application that allows parents and teen drivers to talk and encourage safe driving habits. The application can be used to set and detect realistic speed limits on any type of road whether it is residential, secondary or highways. It monitors and issues instant alert to parents not only when the teen is driving but also when they are a passenger in an unsafe driving situation.
Another positive factor of this application is that it protects teen privacy. This can be huge when trying to convince your children that this is a good and valuable resource. Speedbump only sends reports when there is a violation of the speeding, distracted driving or curfew rules that have been agreed upon. So, if your teen is driving safely, Speedbump never reports their location.
Speedbump is available for Android phones and will be offered for other platforms in the future. The application can be downloaded from the company’s website (www.speedbumpGPS.com) with price starting at just $9.99 per month.

For Kentucky parents who worry with their teen driving or even just riding a car, Speedbump is a valuable solution. It will help erase your worries and give you peace of mind. Most importantly it will help you monitor and ensure that your young drivers are obeying the rules you have in place while they are driving or riding in a car. Act now and encourage safer driving! As a personal injury attorney I hope this device may help make your children safer drivers, give you peace of mind as a parent and a help to prevent a serious car accident.

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky.  The streets are filled heavily with automobiles, cars, bikes, trucks and buses.  Tragically, accidents happen every day that result in serious injuries or even death. If you are injured in an accident in Kentucky you will require the assistance of an experienced Kentucky personal injury attorney.

You should always consult with an attorney if you are injured so you know what your rights are and the law that applies to your personal injury accident case. The question is “How do you find and hire a good and reliable attorney?”  Here are some suggestions to help you in your search for a competent Louisville injury attorney that will fight for you. 

• Do Your Research.  The Louisville and Kentucky Bar Associations are some of the best and most reliable places to get information regarding attorneys for personal injury cases.  Every city has its own bar association. Check and make sure that there are no complaints filed against any attorney you are about to interview.
• Perform an Internet Search. Every lawyer has information you can find by doing a google search. See what information is out there. Read their articles. Watch their videos. This will help you pick an attorney that is right for you and your case.
• Make a list.  Narrow your search down to 2 or 3 of the best attorneys for your case. Set up meetings with your prospective attorneys. Ask them questions and see which one is the right fit for you. Consult a couple or more lawyers before you decide on hiring any one of them. 
• Discuss and ask questions about your case.  It is advisable to hire a lawyer you feel comfortable with whom you choose to defend your rights since personal injury litigation can be a long drawn process.  He should be somebody you have no hesitations to talk to and can be available and reachable at any time.  

An attorney should be committed and dedicated to your accident case whether it is a complicated fatal accident case or a relatively simple car accident. Find a personal injury attorney that will keep you updated on the development of your case. A terrific resource to help you in your journey of choosing a lawyer is a book called “Hiring a Great Lawyer” by my good friend Mischelle Davis. Pick up a copy at www.hiringagreatlawyer.com.com. Get all the information you can and you will increase the chances of a successful outcome to your Kentucky personal injury case.

In a slowing economy, not everyone behind the wheel has an auto insurance. In fact, the rate of uninsured drivers in United Stated has shot up to nearly one in five. Insurance Industry Analysts have recently revealed correlation between the slowing economy and insurance rates of recent years. Unemployment rate increases coincide to the increase in uninsured motorists. Based on data from Insurance Research Council, every percentage point increase in unemployment rates, results in of 0.75 percent increase in the rate of uninsured drivers. 

What if you are driving and you are involved in an accident with a driver with no liability coverage? As a responsible driver and vehicle owner, the best solution is to buy Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage. Under the Kentucky law, all drivers are required to have automobile liability insurance coverage. This is supposed to protect drivers from harm and expenses that are caused by automobile accidents. Kentucky drivers are required by law to carry a minimum of $25,000 of bodily injury coverage with a maximum of $50,000 per accident and a minimum of $10,000 in property damage liability coverage for every owned vehicle. As a personal injury attorney I suggest much more. You will be surmised at how little the additional coverage will cost you. 

The continuous economic downswing affects many families in Kentucky. Some families would rather save their money and use it for their basic needs rather than having an automobile liability. This may save their money but I think it is not a good choice because it may cost you more in the long run. 

To find out how you can protect your family in the event of a serious automobile accident get a complimentary copy of my book “What You Don’t Know About Buying Car Insurance Can Hurt You”.

What is a Tort Reform?  First, let’s tackle the meaning of a tort.  A tort is a “civil crime”; an act that is illegal, but is not criminal.  Perhaps the most common type of a tort is an auto accident and medical malpractice suits. 

When it comes to tort reform, it refers to proposed changes in the civil justice system that would reduce tort litigation or damages.  It is an effort to reform lawsuits so as to prevent “runaway verdicts”.  This tort reform advocates focus on personal injury in particular.  This will destroy our justice system and the right to a jury trial. Limiting jury awards will allow corporations to put defective products into the stream of commerce. They can make a decision based on dollars. If big corporations can only loose $250,000.00 for a death their product causes, they may produce the product anyway. This is because they will make a much higher profit. They will not be held responsible for the death and injuries they cause.

Tort reform is a group of ideas and laws designed to change the way our civil justice system works.  We now have the greatest system in the world. It does not need changed. Though each tort reform law differs, there are goals they share in common such as:

• To limit the conditions under which injured victims may file a lawsuit
• To make it more difficult for injured people to obtain a jury trial
• To set limits on the amount of money injured people may be awarded in a lawsuit.

Former U.S. Senator, republican presidential candidate and attorney Fred Thompson, spoke out against an approach wherein Tennessee juries can award only so much compensation in certain types of cases against certain types of defendants- regardless of the facts of the case.  He promotes individual responsibility and accountability for damages caused.  Government should have equal justice with no special rules for anybody.  And that justice is rendered in a particular case after all hearing the facts, under guidance of unprejudiced judge and limited by the restraints of the appellate courts and not with some tort reform laws imposed by the government.

As a Kentucky personal injury attorney, I am against with tort reform.  Tort reform takes away the rights of the victim. Those injured will not be fairly compensated for injuries they sustain in car accidents, injuries from products or medical malpractice.

What can a Kentucky auto accident victim do to increase their chances of a successful outcome to their Kentucky car accident injury case? Why is it that some Kentucky car wreck cases are settled for more money than others? Why are some car accident victims seen as more credible than others? Does the insurance company just like Louisville car accident victims more than those from Lexington?

One of the biggest reasons why I see Kentucky car accident cases fail is lack of documentation.  The most important thing a Kentucky accident victim can do is document everything that happens in their accident case. From the moment you are in an automobile accident you should take pictures and make notes of everything that happened. The same thing applies to truck accidents and bicycle accidents.

If you’re in a car accident, you should take pictures of the vehicles as they are on the roadway at the time the accident occurs.  This could be important in determining liability or who caused the accident. 

You should also take pictures of the damage to your car and the damage to the car that hit you.  Many times there is very little damage to your car, yet the car that hit you has thousands of dollars worth of damage.  This is important evidence that your personal injury attorney can use in negotiating a settlement with the insurance company or arguing your accident case to a jury.

It is also important to keep a diary. You should write down everything that happens in the case so that you can remember it later when you need to.  Should you have to give a deposition or testify at trial it might be three or four years after the automobile accident. You may forget many of the details of the accident, your treatment and how you were affected.  You must have a way to refresh your memory as to how the accident painfully affected your life. It is also a great help to your personal injury attorney.

If you think back to even last Christmas and try to remember everything that happened, you’re not going to give an exact play-by-play of every gift that everyone received that day. This is the same thing that will happen as time passes after your auto-accident.  You will not remember everything. 

The point to all this is you need to document! This will increase the chances of you getting a good and fair recovery in your Kentucky auto accident case. Give yourself a fighting chance against the insurance company by documenting everything that happens in your Kentucky car accident case.

The insurance adjuster wants to take a recorded statement from you, the victim of a Kentucky car accident. You have been injured through no fault of your own. You are hurting. All you want is to go to the doctor, have your medical bills paid and to get your car fixed. Now the insurance company wants to take your statement and grill you like a suspect in a television crime show. You didn’t do anything wrong.

 Kentucky automobile accident victims come into my office and tell me that they have been called by the insurance adjuster. Most accident victims give a statement because they feel that they have to.  This is not the case.  You do not have to talk to the insurance adjuster from the at-fault insurance company if you don’t want to. In most circumstances it is advisable not to speak with them until you have spoken to an experienced personal injury attorney. You have the right to refuse.

Insurance adjusters take statements on an almost daily basis. They have an agenda or purpose behind what they are doing.  They are not trying to find out exactly what happened in the case, although that is part of the purpose. They are also trying to get information from you they can later use to defeat your car accident claim. The insurance company is trying to limit the amount that they are going to have to pay you for your injury claim. 

Eventually in most situations you will give a statement to the insurance company. You should do it only after you have been prepared by your attorney. This will help to put you on a level playing field with the insurance adjuster. Once you know what your rights are and what the insurance company’s agenda is for this statement you will be better equipped to protect your rights. You will be able to give a statement that will be beneficial to your Kentucky accident claim.

Wait to give your statement. There is no rush. Make sure that you’re not on pain medications Make sure that you’re not still recovering from injuries. You should not be in extreme pain when you give a statement.  You don’t want to give a statement right after an accident when your adrenaline is still high and you don’t know exactly what your injuries are.  Wait; time is not of the essence as the insurance adjuster makes you feel. Give yourself a chance to recover and be educated so that you know what the statement is really about. By doing this it is less likely that you will say anything that will damage your accident case.

Should Kentucky car accident victims use their personal health insurance to pay their medical bills for the treatment they receive for injuries they sustained in an automobile accident?  This is a question frequently asked by clients.

·         Do I Give my health insurance card to my doctors?

·         Why should my car insurance pay for my medical bills from an automobile accident that wasn’t my fault?

·         Isn’t it the at-fault cars’ insurance company that should have to pay?

In other words should they use their health insurance to pay for their treatment from a car accident?  The answer is no and yes. Why No? Your first and primary insurance in a car accident in Kentucky is your Personal Injury Protection or PIP benefits.  Your own car insurance will pay the first $10,000.00 of medical bills for treatment from a car accident under most circumstances. 

The “yes” comes after this $10,000.00 amount is fully paid or exhausted. You can then use your health insurance. Your health insurance will pay the medical bills from this point on.  The confusing part and what some consider the bad part about this is there’s something called subrogation. Ninety percent of all health insurance plans require you to reimburse the health insurance carrier for anything they pay toward the treatment of injuries sustained in an automobile accident. Federal ERISA laws cover this area. It is a very specialized area of law and would require pages to fully explain. Your health insurance company generally entitled to reimbursement, and they can recover what was paid out under most circumstances.

If there is a requirement to pay your health insurance company why should use your health insurance to pay the bills from your car wreck case? The answer is twofold. One is to make sure that you get the treatment you need. The second is that they pay at a reduced rate, which ultimately saves you money. Realize that you will have to reimburse them out of the proceeds of your accident case, but only what is paid.

There are some good points for the Kentucky accident victim. When a health insurance company pays a bill they will pay the provider the agreed upon price for any treatment. In other words, they will pay only a portion of the charge. You only have to reimburse the health insurance company what they have paid, not the total amount of the bill. Usually this amount will be discounted even further at the time of payment by you.

You are also responsible to pay any co-pays or deductibles to the health care provider, unless you can work out other arrangements with your doctor. You will eventually be reimbursed but that may be several months or even years later when your accident case is settled.

The bottom line is you should use your health insurance to pay your medical bills once your PIP benefits have been exhausted. Your health insurance is secondary insurance. This allows you to get the treatment you need without being hassled by bill collectors for payment.

         Bicycle accidents and pedestrian accidents that happen in Kentucky pose different questions and different answers for the accident victims. Bicycle accident victims and pedestrian accident victims come into my office after being hit by a car and have suffered serious injuries. They wonder if they have a case. They’ve been hurt and they want to recover for their injuries.

        What happens if the car that hit them did not have insurance? Can the bicyclist or pedestrian be compensated for injuries they suffered in the accident through no fault of their own? There can be a recovery even if that person didn’t have insurance or they don’t have assets sufficient to pay for the injuries that they caused by their negligent actions.

As a personal injury attorney, I will look at the insurance policy of the person on the bicycle or the pedestrian to see if they have what is called your uninsured motorist coverage (UIM). This is coverage on your own car. UIM will pay for your pain and suffering in a pedestrian or bicycle accident if for some reason the car that hit you did not have insurance. Most people have no idea that their own car insurance will give those benefits under this situation.

You need to make sure that you have this coverage on your own car insurance policy, make sure that if you are hurt in an accident like this that you will be covered!

Your PIP will also pay for the first $10,000.00 of your medical bills. This happens even though you were no where close to your car.

I had a client a few years ago that was on a moped and on her way to work. She was injured by a car that ran her off the road and then took off. We never found the car and have no idea who the person was that hit her. She had very serious injuries. Her leg was broke and required two surgeries, pins and rods were inserted. There was a year of recovery. We were able to get a recovery for her by looking to the UIM on her car. This was from her own car insurance company, even though she was not driving that car at the time and she was on a moped.

You need to look seriously toward your insurance company in these situations. Give your personal injury attorney something to work with. If you are not sure if you have this coverage call your insurance agent and ask. For more information on Uninsured Motorist Coverage follow this link to get a free copy of my book “What You Don’t Know About Buying Car Insurance Can Hurt You.”

Many Kentucky accident victims have suffered serious and life changing injuries from an automobile accidents, truck accidents or motorcycle accident. They come into my office looking for answers. They are concerned about the fact that they only have $10,000.00 in medical benefits available to them from their PIP Benefits (Personal Injury Protection) in their car insurance policy.  If you’ve been in an accident and have a serious injury and are in need of surgery this may not be enough to cover the medical bills for treatment you receive for injuries suffered in the accident. It’s a real concern if you don’t have health insurance. 

         After an accident your options are limited if you don’t have health insurance. Unfortunately you can’t go back in time. You are forced to go to a free clinic or find a doctor who will agree to treat you or perform surgery on a promise to pay later. This just doesn’t happen very often.

You really must take action right now before you are even in a serious automobile accident in Kentucky. You must do something long before you even think about contacting a car accident attorney. One thing that you must do is ask your insurance agent to increase your PIP benefits.  These additional benefits are called Added Reparations Benefits.  You can increase your benefits to $20,000.00 per accident, $40,000.00 per accident, $50,000.00 and even more with many insurance companies. 

You might think, well if I’m getting five times the benefits, I don’t want to pay five times the amount, but in many circumstances your premium will go up a relatively insignificant amount compared to the increased benefits you are getting.  One of the most important things you can do right now to protect yourself and your family is contact your insurance agent and request additional medical benefits on your auto insurance policy.  I would suggest that you call your insurance agent today to ask him how to go about this.  You’ll be amazed at how little it will really cost you and the peace of mind you will have knowing you have protected your family should you be in a serous car accident.

We all know that the dangers of texting and driving. It is obvious.  In Kentucky we now have a simulator which demonstrates the dangers of texting and driving. The simulator can be requested from the Office of Highway Safety and is free to the schools.  It has not been used in Jefferson County but I hope our schools will take advantage of the program.  This new program has been developed to demonstrate the problems and many dangers of texting and driving to high school students.  This is presented for no charge by the Kentucky office of Highway Safety. 

Individuals are strapped into an arcade-type racing game.  The simulator has a seat equipped with a seatbelt, a gas pedal and a brake pedal.  There is also a steering wheel and a gearshift. You have three screens in front of you that gives the operator an 180?degree view of a roadway. The driver is requested to operate or drive normally. They are then handed a cell phone and asked to send a text message while they can continue to drive the simulator. 

When they are handed the cell phone it usually sends the car swerving into another lane.  Drivers are allowed to watch a replay of their simulation. When students are shown the simulation replay they see themselves swerving when they thought they were actually driving okay.  Distracted driving has become the leading cause of crashes among 16 to 21 years old.  Texting and driving is a big, big part of this.  

            The US Department of Transportation has banned all federal employees from texting and driving on federal-issued or personal phones while in vehicles owned by the federal government or in vehicles being used on federal business.  This includes the military.  Although the federal government may be the most recent, the National Safety Council indicates that hundreds of private companies and organizations have banned the use of cell phones while driving to reduce accidents at work. 

This needs to be the law in Kentucky and should be the number one priority at the next Kentucky legislative session.  The word is getting out in Kentucky partly thanks to Nicole Meredith, who is a teen.  She wrecked her car on the Gene Snyder last summer when she was texting a friend.  As she was texting she went off the road and totaled her car.  Miraculously she walked away from the crash without injuries.  Meredith has told her story in Frankfort to help kickoff the Transportation Department’s distracted driving campaign.  Hopefully there will be more than just a campaign and soon no text messaging behind the wheel will be the law in Kentucky.  

The statistics are one of the many compelling reasons to make this ban the law in Kentucky.  Some of these statistics are:

·        Distraction from the use of a cell phone while driving delays driver-reaction time

·        Use of cell phone reduces brain activity associated with driving by 37 percent.

·        80 percent of all crashes are related to driver inattention.  The use of a handheld device increases the likelihood of a crash four times.

·        In 2008 nearly 6,000 people died in crashes involving an inattentive or distracted driver.

·        Research shows that the youth are the worst offenders.

Believe it or not there were 53,000 distracted driving-related crashes last year in Kentucky.  Link Kentucky kicks off campaign to cut down on distracted driving.  Governor Steve Beshear is considering a policy that would limit distracted driving for all state employees.  Do we really need to have to tell them that it’s time to make this the law?  I hope Kentucky follows suit with Colorado. Their new law dictating how you use your cell phone while driving takes effect December 1, 2009.  After this date no one under the age of 18 will be allowed to talk on a phone while driving.  Everyone will be banned from texting while driving.   

Let’s hope Kentucky is next and a ban on text messaging while driving will be law in Kentucky in the near future. This will help to precent car accidents on our Kentucky roads.