Important Things To Remember

The following is a list of information which is required to establish the duration and severity of your personal injury claim. Later on, you will have to hand this information to an insurance company or to a lawyer.

• First all during the accident you will have to acquire information about the driver such as name, insurance company name, policy number, license number and tag number.
• Get a copy of the police report if the police responded.
• Take note of the names, addresses, contact numbers and email addresses. Contact them after the accident so you can make a written statement.
• Keep records of all your medical expenditures including tests and lab works.
• Write down all the time used from what is supposedly your time at work or school as a result of the accident, including time allocated for necessary medical treatments or time wasted due to the incapacity to function optimally. Ask for a letter written by your employer to support your notes.
• Take pictures from the accident scene including the injuries you acquired. Continue taking photographs of your injuries even after the accident. Note the dates when they were taken.
• Record feelings of pain, discomfort as well as emotional and psychological distress.
• Car repair estimates are important to get your car fixed. However sometimes estimates provided by your insurance company are lower than what you might expect. If you are not satisfied, then you can let a certified mechanic assess your mobile and make another initial estimate. Save all your bills.
• Keep receipts of everything you have paid for as a consequence of the injuries.

Seek Medical Treatment

After an accident, you have to ask for medical treatment. Never admit your liability and never answer questions from the other party’s insurance company or lawyer. Neither should you sign on any form without consulting your lawyer.

Do not agree on a settlement unless all present and future medicals are identified. Lastly keep all bills and documents related to the accident.

This article is for information purposes only and not intended for legal advice.

For more information on how to report an auto accident, visit www.kenallenlaw.com. Kenneth J. Allen Associates serve clients in the states of Illinois and Indiana.

The Motor Carrier Safety Rating is given by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). It is an evaluation of each interstate commercial motor carrier company. There are three different safety ratings that a carrier can earn.

Satisfactory: The carrier has in place adequate safety management controls that meet Part
385.5 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations

Conditional: The carrier does not have in place adequate safety management controls that
meet Part 385.5 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations

Unsatisfactory: The carrier does not have in place adequate safety management controls
which has resulted in occurrences listed in Part 385.5 of the Federal
Motor Carrier Safety Regulations

Generally a motor carrier who received an unsatisfactory rating is not allowed to operate commercial motor vehicles. If the rating is final, the carrier is put out of business. If a carrier continues to operate they are in violation and subject to penalties.

The FMCSA conducts an onsite compliance review of a carrier and its operations and determines the rating. A safety rating is dependent on several factors. These include financial responsibility, drivers’ hours of service, maintenance and inspection, driver qualification, hazardous materials, and accidents. They may inspect the carrier’s safety and transportation records.

A compliance check can be conducted for several reasons. A carrier may want to improve its current rating. The FMCSA may have received complaints about the carrier’s operations. There may have been some safety issues including accidents. It is possible that the compliance check can lead to enforceable action by the FMCSA.

The general public is allowed to look up a trucking company’s current Motor Carrier Safety Rating. The information is part of the SAFER System, the Safety and Fitness Electronic Records System. There is also other safety information including carriers of hazardous materials. There is a fee required for some information, but a general review of a carrier is free.

This is a database that victims of a truck accident may want to research to check on the trucking company involved in their accident. It may also be a source for some truck accident attorneys as they work to build their case.
It may also be a good resource for a business that needs a safe carrier company to transport their product. They can use this site to see if a company they are considering is rated satisfactory. Other businesses may want to check the rating of their current carrier. They may want to change carriers if their current trucking company has an unsatisfactory rating. This could mean that the carrier is not operating safely and may be going out of business soon. A business that needs reliable transportation may need to switch to a carrier with a higher rating.

This article is on intended as legal advice.

For additional information: Please visit Gordon & Elias, L.L.P - Midland, TX Accident and Injury Attorneys

We should be prepared to both deal with an emergency, and to know what to do when an accident does occur.

Take a first aid course so you can be ready to assist others if injury should occur. Then have your accident kit ready in your car. You should have:

• A first aid kit
• Safety triangle or cones (these are optional but can be very useful
• A pen
• Paper
• Recorded details of your own and your families medical information (allergies etc)
• Your insurance company’s phone number
• A camera or cell phone with a camera (never be tempted to talk or text while driving though)
• Your ‘to do at an accident’ list on a card. Accidents are frightening and it is easy to forget things in a moment of stress and panic.

Additional Legal Source: The Law Offices of Michael Lowe. Serving all of Texas.

Bad visibility can mean two different things. The first definition refers to the visibility of the truck. Many trucks are hard to see in the dark, especially along poorly lit roads and highways. Car drivers, often suffering fatigue at night, do not see the trucks until the moment before a collision. Some car drivers do not see a truck that is in an adjoining lane, and may try to move over in front of the larger vehicle.

The US federal government addressed this problem in 1999, when they enacted a law that requires all tractor-trailers to have reflectors that outline the lower edges of their trailers. They believe this will prevent car drivers from accidently driving under a truck or driving into the side of a truck. Many truck drivers also have a series of lights and reflectors all over their trailers so they are well lit and highly visible.

Another way to define bad visibility refers to the truck driver’s ability to see cars. Most car drivers are taught to stay out of the truck driver’s blind spots. These are the areas around and behind the rig where the truck driver cannot see. If a car driver drives along the side of a truck, they risk becoming invisible. The truck driver may move to that lane, believing that it is empty, and hit or run the car off the road.

Likewise it is dangerous to drive directly behind a truck. Some car drivers do this in the belief that they can get better mileage by following closely behind a large truck. Whether or not there is any validity to that claim, it is still extremely dangerous. The truck driver probably cannot see the car, and has no idea how close they are to the back of the truck. If they slow or stop, the car will slam into the back of the trailer.

This kind of driving also reduces the visibility of the car driver. If they are driving close behind a truck, they cannot see down the road. They often are only seeing a small amount on either side of the truck. They have no way of knowing if the traffic ahead is slowing down or if there is some kind of hazard in the road. This prevents them from anticipating problems and making changes to avoid accidents.

According to most laws, in the first example the truck driver is liable if their vehicle is not properly lit to increase visibility. In the second example, the car driver would be liable if they are driving too close for safety. These are just two of examples of bad visibility causing truck accidents. There are many other causes, including overloaded trucks and poorly maintained windows and lights, or misdirected mirrors. All drivers must be concerned with good visibility in order to avoid many unnecessary truck and car accidents.

This article should not be construed as legal advice.

Related Legal Source: If you are an accident victim due to a truck driver’s poor visibility or would like additional information regarding truck accidents laws please visit the attorneys at Gordon & Elias, LLP.

Truck accidents are treated differently than other motor vehicle accidents. One often wonders who the liable parties are. It is not just the truck driver that can be held liable. Other parties can be involved such as the company that the driver is employed through. In very negligent cases, the trailer manufacturer, designer, or any manufacturer of the part that was defective can be fund at fault. Many times, it is the party that is responsible for the vehicle’s maintenance.

Your attorney will be the one who will consider every source when trying to figure out liability. The trucking companies will usually always have a law firm available 24/7 to visit the scene of the accident. This is a very large advantage to the trucking companies. Victims usually will not have such quick access to a truck accident attorney. Many times the victim is taken to the hospital, which removes them from the scene where the evidence is collected.

Trucking companies know that they have the advantage if getting their own attorney and investigators to the scene. Trucking companies have substantial resources. This is why the right attorney is vital to your case. Trucking companies hire their own attorney and investigators that will not have your interests in mind. Make sure you attorney has the knowledge and financial resources to properly investigate your claim. Trucking companies also know that many victims can’t afford high-end attorney fees. This is often due to loss of work, medical bills, and so on. This is exactly why most truck accident attorneys work on a contingency basis. This means that a fee is not necessary until you win your case.

The victim does not pay Court expenses until any money is recovered. This is usually because they did not follow guidelines that were mandated for how long a driver can drive and maintenance checks. It is very convenient for the trucking companies since they have control of the documentation. A truck accident attorney can often recognize inconsistencies that have been produced by the trucking company during the litigation process.

Make sure to hire an experience attorney that knows how truck accident law works. They will help you fight through the corporations and insurance companies that are fighting hard against your interests. These companies have been known to use whatever means possible to discredit the victim. It is imperative that your attorney know every law forwards and backwards in order to make sure your rights are protected.

This is not legal advice.

Legal Information: Truck Accident Attorneys At Law Gordon & Elias. Providing legal support nationwide and in Tennessee.

According to accident attorney Stuart Jones, Florida already ranks fifth in the accomplished cardinal of uninsured drivers, and a new absolute abstraction predicts it could get a lot worse.

As the recession deepens, added bodies are not alone acid aback on auto coverage, but some are bottomward it all together. And those drivers are still accepting abaft the wheel.