Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel times of the year. In fact, the American Automobile Association anticipates nearly 55 million people will be traveling for this year’s holiday. With the increase in traffic on the roads, there is also an increase in the likelihood of an auto accident occurring. To ensure that you and your family stay safe this Thanksgiving, we have included some tips for safe travels.
Before you get on the road this year, be sure to:
If you were involved in an accident and were already dealing with a pre-existing injury, you may be wondering how that previous injury will impact your new claim. While having a pre-existing condition does not bar a car accident victim from recovery, it could present challenges when it comes to proving your injuries and value of your claim. Insurance companies will often use this as a tactic to deny fair compensation or claim the motor vehicle accident did not cause the injury. So, it is crucial to contact an attorney immediately to guide you through the process.
Simply put, a pre-existing condition is a health condition that an injured person already had before a new accident occurred. The likelihood of someone suffering from a pre-existing condition is high, especially as you age. However, this should not keep personal injury victims from being properly compensated. Although the insurance company may want an injured party to believe otherwise, a squeaky-clean bill of health is not necessary to prove your injuries. If you suffer from a pre-existing injury, it is important to prove that the accident worsened that injury rather than caused it.
An individual’s quality of life can be greatly affected in an instant. After an accident, most people are primarily concerned with apparent physical injuries and property damage. But once the dust settles, emotional suffering can begin to greatly impact the victim’s life.
Not only may the victim experience physical pain, but he or she may also suffer mentally. A victim’s mental pain and suffering after an accident is less about the physical pain from the injuries, and more about the mental and emotional anguish that is caused by the injuries and the accident. In fact, emotional distress is very common following an accident. It can negatively impact the victim’s daily activities and routine. If the trauma is severe enough, it may require treatment from a psychologist or therapist.
Online shopping and the use of delivery services has become a common practice by millions of Americans. The ability to shop online is saving shoppers time, money, and the stress of dealing with crowded retail stores. The roads are filled with delivery trucks like UPS, FedEx, DHL and Amazon Prime. With this becoming the new norm, the number of commercial delivery trucks on the road has significantly increased.
Naturally, the more delivery trucks on the road, the higher the chance of one of them being involved an accident. Some of the leading causes of delivery truck accidents include:
Last year, Louisiana legislators pushed for one of the State’s biggest tort reform packages since the 1990s in hopes of lowering automobile insurance rates and encouraging out of court settlements. The Civil Justice Reform Act of 2020 (CJRA) was signed into law on July 13, 2020 and became effective on January 1, 2021. These changes are not retroactive and will only apply to any cause of action arising on or after January 1, 2021. The most significant changes include:
Amount in Controversy for Jury Trials. For many decades, jury trials were only available in cases where the amount in controversy exceeded $50,000. In the district court, the threshold has been reduced to $10,000, exclusive of interest and costs. The party seeking a trial by jury is required to post a $5,000 jury bond within 60 days of filing a jury demand. If a party files a jury demand but fails to timely post the bond, then right to a jury is waived. Although the CJRA did not change the jurisdictional limits of city or parish courts, it allows a defendant to seek a transfer to the district court to obtain the right to a trial by jury when the amount in controversy is more than $10,000 and the transfer is made timely.
Louisiana road conditions are ranked among some of the worst in the United States. This is especially true in New Orleans, where potholes are nearly unavoidable. A ride through the city can be very bumpy, and it may ultimately put a dent in your wallet.
Flat tires, rim damage, punctured exhaust pipes, broken axles, alignment problems and other damage to the body of the vehicle are just a few ways in which hitting a pothole can damage your automobile. A study done by the American Automobile Association revealed that potholes cost American drivers roughly $3 billion in vehicle repairs annually.
In Louisiana, uninsured/ underinsured motorist insurance (UM/ UIM) follows the person, not the vehicle. So, if you have UM/ UIM coverage and are involved in a motor vehicle accident where the at fault driver is not insured, you will be covered even if you are not in your own vehicle, or any vehicle at all! But, there may be an exclusion in your UM/ UIM policy which could limit your insurance company’s liability.
The “regular use” exclusion contained in many policies excludes an insurance company from liability when an insured driver uses another vehicle they do not own and is not named on their policy, but which they use regularly. The term “regular use” may apply to a vehicle provided to you by your employer for regular transportation to and from work and for everyday work duties.
In an instant, you or a loved one may find themselves in the unfortunate situation of being involved in an automobile accident. But, did you know that women are more likely to be injured or killed as a result of these accidents.
A new study done by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found that women are much more likely to suffer a serious injury in a car accident than men. While men are involved in more deadly crashes than women, women are 20-28 percent more likely to be killed on a per- crash basis. They are also 37-73 percent more likely to be seriously injured after speed and other considerations are factored in.
It can feel overwhelming dealing with the insurance company after an accident. But, the first step in receiving compensation after an accident is to file a claim with the insurance company, so communicating with them is inevitable.
After carefully reviewing your claim, the adjuster assigned to your case will then pay out your claim or deny it. If your claim is denied, there are many reasons why the insurance company did so, which may include:
Imagine one minute you are on your way home from work or just running some errands, and the next thing you know you hear a crashing sound and feel yourself being forcefully flung around in your vehicle.
After an accident, you may be suffering from a devastating injury that can render you unable to return to work for a couple weeks, months, years, or worst of all, forever. Lost wages, loss of earning capacity and outrageous medical expenses can leave you and your family in a terrible financial situation.
Louisiana Injury Lawyers Blog