The following is part of an interview I did on WAVE Listens about The Schafer Law Office Glove Box Accident Guide and what to do at athe scene of a car accident.

We are talking today about specifically this little publication that Mike has created.  It’s called the Glove Box Accident Guide and this is actually a, a publication that you can keep, literally, in your glove box just in case you’re involved in a car accident, and it gives you some very important information that you need to keep in mind in case you’re involved in an accident.  One, No. 1 is to stay calm.

You don’t want to put yourself in further danger, you don’t want to move anybody that is hurt, you want to make sure that the police are called but you don’t want to put yourself in further danger. The best way to do that is to stay calm and to evaluate the situation and see what you need to do next.

At the time that you’re in the accident, you don’t know that law.

You don’t know the circumstances of how the law is going to treat the case.  So if you go up to the person that hit you and say, I’m so sorry for this accident, the insurance company or the insurance company’s lawyers are going to use that as an admission of fault down the road.  The accident may not have been your fault.  You may have made a U?turn which you think you shouldn’t have made but is perfectly legal in Kentucky if there’s not a “No U-Turn” sign.

So you can, it’s best to talk to the individual, make sure everything is okay.

Okay, all right, and then the aforementioned No. 3 is contact the police, call 911.

Always call the police and have them out there.  One, so that they can secure the area, they can document what has happened in the accident and they can get an ambulance there and take care of anybody that’s hurt, uh, if that is needed.

No. 4 is to find witnesses.

This is probably one of the most important items in there because witnesses to accidents are really a key to the success of a personal injury case if you’re injured and if you have to go forward on that case.

I’ll give you an example.  Almost every week people that come into my office as clients will say, “There are witnesses to the accident”.  I say, well, great, did you get their names.  They respond, “no, but the police talked to them”.  Well, 95 percent of the time the police may talk to the witness but they’re not going to write that name down and write that information down unless it’s a very serious accident case.  Police are very busy and sometimes they just do not document this so it’s important for you to make sure that you get the names or a card or phone number of anybody that did see the accident that you see around, if you’re able.

Never put yourself in danger of getting hit by a car or if you’re on the expressway or a busy roadway.

If you’re hurt the No. 1 thing is to take care of your health. If you are able, getting the contact information of witnesses can make the difference.  I have several cases where we would not have been able to collect for significant injuries if that good Samaritan hadn’t stopped and given their name and number to the person that was injured.

Okay.  The other things, uh, perhaps you might consider is taking photographs.  A lot easier now with everybody with smart phones and all of that sort of thing.

An old trite saying but a picture’s worth 1,000 words.

My grandmother wouldn’t allow pictures because she says pictures don’t lie so I don’t want to see them. That’s the same thing in accident cases.  Pictures don’t lie, they tell the story much better than what  you can and if you say my car is totaled, that says one thing, but if you see the entire front end smashed in to the, the steering wheel. That creates a whole different image, and the only time you can take the pictures of the car that hit you is at the scene, and once again, this is all tempered by if you’re able and if you’re, can get around without hurting yourself further and putting yourself in danger.

Gathering information is also critical when you’re involved in an accident.

If you do not get the insurance information at the time of the accident, I can go on for a long time on this one.  Insurance information, you want to get your car fixed after the accident.

And in Jefferson County it takes about ten days to get an accident report so you’re not going to get the at-fault driver’s insurance information until that ten days runs. If you don’t exchange insurance information with the other driver, it’s going to be ten days. It’s going to be ten days before you can get a car, contact the at-fault car insurance company for a rental car.

And if your car is not drivable, this can be a really, really bad situation for you.

You want to document where the cars came to rest, if there’s any skid marks, anything that can show where the cars were, how long it took the car to stop, anything like that.

That is the only time you’re ever going to have a chance to do that.

And you need to do it immediately at that time.  Once again, if you are able and don’t put yourself in further danger, you need to take those pictures, you need to document, document, document, this goes through the entire case, but you need to do this at the scene if you’re able to.

Okay.  All of this information and more in the handy little Glove Box Accident Guide provided by Mike Schafer from his law office, it’s The Schafer Law Office.

As parents, our number one priority is our kids. I have two daughters and am probably over protective. We set a lot of limitations, precautions and care for them. It is hard to trust others with our kids, maybe even with our own parents (their grandparents!).

Guess what? Maybe we are wrong. There’s a new study which shows that children are less likely to be injured if grandparents are driving as compared to the parents. That is your kids are more likely to be involved in a car accident when they are with you. I find this unbelievable!

The study was based on data from nearly 12, 000 children from 15 U.S. states between 2003 and 2007 injured in car crashes involving children younger than 16. This study was published in the journal Pediatrics. Dr. Fred M. Henretig, an emergency medicine physician at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, is the lead researcher on the study. 0.7 percent of children were injured in the crash when grandparents were driving compared to 1 percent when parents were the one driving.

Older drivers are just not as safe. That is the general consensus. We think that grandparents driving is worse because they used old cars and they lack knowledge in new technologies.

There are factors that Dr. Henretig cited as reasons for the lower injury risk of children when with their grandparents.

* Grandparents drive at a lower speed
* Grandparents do not following the car in front of them quite as closely,
* Grandparents think that grandchildren are special cargo,
* Grandparents are less distracted than busy working parents tend to be.
* Grandparents focus on their driving and refrain from distractions like using cell phones, fiddling with the radio, eating while driving or thinking about their work.

The bottom line is that the risk of being injured in a Kentucky car accident goes down when we care about what we are doing and are not distracted. Focus on driving and your risk of being injured in a car accident will likely decrease.

What does a personal injury attorney really do for you?  What do you get by hiring an attorney to represent you in your automobile or truck accident case in Kentucky?  There are hundreds of things I do for clients on a daily basis.  These range from basic filing and record collecting to interpretation and application of the law to the case at hand. I prepare clients to give statements. I obtain paperwork to send to the insurance company. I prepare forms. I am involved in negotiating settlements with the insurance adjuster.  I educate clients on the process involved in a personal injury case. I collect medical and employment records. The list goes on and on.

Let’s cut to the chase. What a personal injury attorney really does is take care of everything that happens behind the scenes so you can concentrate on what really matters in your case and that is getting well. You can go to the doctor and recover from your injuries. You don’t have to worry about dealing with the insurance adjuster. Your attorney is doing it for you.  While you are recovering your attorney is behind the scenes collecting information, doing the daily grunt work to get everything together to properly present your case to the insurance adjuster to maximize your potential settlement.  If the case is not able to b settled this ground work allows the case to be properly presented to a jury.

Many times you might be wondering what your personal injury attorney is really. Behind the scenes he is in the process of collecting and gathering information to properly present your accident claim.  So what a personal injury attorney really does is allow you the freedom to take care of your daily life to get better while he takes care of the technical aspects of your accident claim. This allows you to be fairly compensated for your injuries either through a settlement or through the litigation process. 

Here is what The Schafer Law Office will do for you if you are a Kentucky accident victim we represent:

• Educate them on the personal injury claims process and the litigation process.   
• Obtain all written records and documents that are needed to develop and support their claim. This includes, but is not limited to, medical records, the police report and employment records. 
• Conduct an investigation of the facts surrounding the accident. I will obtain witness statements, photographs, diagrams and other physical evidence. 
• Review your automobile insurance policy to determine what coverage is available to you to compensate you for your damages, like medical, hospital and wage loss benefits.  Additionally, uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage is looked at to see if they are applicable to your accident. 
• Review the medical records from your doctors and meet with them when necessary. This can be done in person or telephonically. 
• Retain experts and then obtain reports when needed to support your claim for damages and/or liability. 
• Analyze legal issues and advise on those issues as they arise in your case. 
• File the necessary forms with the at-fault insurance company and the clients own insurance company, including PIP applications. 
• Analyze your health insurance policy and/or governmental benefit plan (such as Medicare or Passport) to determine whether any money paid by that policy is required to be reimbursed. 
• Contact and maintain contact with the insurance company about your claim to help ensure adequate reserves are set aside for the potential settlement of your claim. 
• Conduct negotiations with the insurance adjuster in an attempt to settle your claim, before litigation.   
• When a lawsuit has to be filed, I will prepare and draft the Summons and Complaint to be filed in Court. 
• Confirm the address of the Defendant for personal service of the Summons and Complaint. 
• Draft written questions for information from the other side (called Interrogatories and Requests for Production of Documents). 
• I will help you respond to interrogatories sent by the defendant.                 
• I will prepare you for your deposition. 
• Prepare for and conduct the deposition of the Defendant and any other witnesses that are necessary. 
• Meet with your doctors to prepare for their deposition whether it is a defense deposition or their trial deposition. 
• Prepare and take the deposition of the Defendant’s experts, including medical experts. 
• Prepare you for a medical examination by the Defendant’s doctor, called an Independent medical Exam. 
• Review your medical records and billings. 
• Hire experts to support and prove your claim when necessary. These include other physicians, economists, engineers, vocational experts, etc. 
• Review and analyze expert reports about your case. 
• File all documents in Court as required by the Judge’s Trial Order, including witness lists, exhibit lists, trial memorandum, jury instructions, motions in limine, etc.   
• Meet with and prepare you and other witnesses for trial. 
• Create and prepare exhibits for trial. 
• Organize records and other documentary evidence intended to be introduced at trial. 
• Prepare for mediation when ordered by the Court or agreed to by the parties. 
• Research and write briefs and file motions with the Court when required.  
• Perform or participate in mock trials or focus groups to prepare for trial when deemed necessary. 
• Try the case before a judge or jury. 
• Write briefs or motions following the verdict to obtain post-trial relief, including motions for attorney fees, or to overturn the verdict. 
• Analyze the trial record to determine if an appeal is warranted (if the trial is a loss). 
• Research and write briefs and motions if appeal is filed. 
• Negotiate subrogation claims asserted by client’s insurance company or governmental agency that provided benefits to client.

To me this is stating the obvious. You should not send a text message, read a text message, read an e-mail or be on your facebook page while you are driving on Kentucky roads. Once again, stating the obvious, this lack of attention to the road and what is happening in front of you causes serious auto accidents. I drove up to Chicago last week for a conference. As I passed cars or they passed me I was watching the drivers. Before it got to dark to observe I counted eight people who appeared to be texting while driving down I-65 at 70 mph. This is, shall we say not smart and dangerous.

Tennessee has just passed a law banning text messaging while driving. They join eight other states that ban text messaging and nine states that ban texting by teenage drivers (I guess you have the ability to text and drive once you turn 21). This is a law that needs to be in place. Awareness will prevent auto accidents.

Kentucky considered a law banning texting while driving last year and talking on a cell phone while driving if you are not using a hands free device. If I recall it didn’t make it out of committee. I hope Kentucky will consider revisiting this issue in the next legislative session. We need a law that can be used by the police to make our roads safer. Tennessee has a proposed penalty of a maximum of a $50 fine; hopefully Kentucky will look at a stiffer penalty that will be more of a detriment. I would also like to see tougher penalties for repeat offenders. I urge the Kentucky legislature and Governor Beshear to look at this issue and give Kentucky a law banning text messaging and cell phone use with some teeth. This will prevent auto accidents and injuries on Kentucky roadways.

One of the most common car accident cases that walk into my office is what is commonly called “whiplash”. You will also hear them referred to as a soft tissue injury or a sprain/strain. These are the most difficult cases to prove in a  Kentucky court or to convince an insurance adjuster to pay what one would consider a reasonable amount. Kentucky accident victims suffering from these injuries are hurt, they are in pain and the injury is having a detrimental affect on their quality of life. If people are hurt why are these cases so difficult?

There are a number of factors:

·        There are no tests that easily show a whiplash injury.

·        Someone can easily fake this injury because the complaints are subjective.

·        Insurance companies have been successful in denying these claims.

·        There is often little property damage involved in the accident.

·        The accident victim thought the pain would go away so they didn’t go to the doctor.

·        When they did go to the doctor they went to someone that did not have an expertise in this type of injury.

·        Juries of suspicious of what they cannot see.

So how can an accident victim who has a whiplash injury get a reasonable settlement for their injury? Unfortunately there is no way to guarantee an outcome. What you can do is take steps that will give you the best chance for a satisfactory outcome. Some of these steps are:

·        Get checked out by a qualified doctor immediately.

·        Follow your care plan.

·        Document your complaints. Take pictures of the damage to your car.

·        Be careful what you say to the insurance company.

·        Speak with an attorney that concentrates in car accident cases to answer your questions. Most give a free consultation.

·        Be completely honest about your pain and injury.

I could go on for ever about what to do and not to do in an accident case. In fact I have! I wrote a book entitled “7 Potholes That Can Wreck Your Kentucky Accident Case”. If you have been injured in an accident in Kentucky and would like more information on the process click the link on the right I will be happy to send you a copy at no charge.