If you drove to a New Year’s Party in Utah on Monday and had a few drinks, the risk of getting arrested for drug driving increased dramatically. On Saturday (December 30th) Utah lowered its legal blood-alcohol content (BAC) limit from 0.08 to 0.05. This gives Utah the strictest DUI laws…
The recent technological advances in car safety are nothing short of dramatic. The result is lives are being saved on our highways. The pros of these technologies far outweigh the cons. But that does not mean there will not be bumps in the road. One bump is people do not…
According to a study from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), teenagers have the highest car accident rate of any age group in the country. After years on the decline, teen driving fatalities have been on the increase. The rate of teen driver fatalities went up nine percent from 2014…
In car accident cases, there are typically relatively “good” settlements on ankle injury cases. For our purposes here, “good” is defined as the probability of getting a reasonable settlement offer before suing. Why are ankle injury cases easier to settle than other accident claims? But the most obvious explanation is…
Car accidents generate a lot of harmful force. When a car suddenly collides with something or gets hit by another vehicle, the occupants inside get forcefully propelled in the direction of the impact. Inside the confines of a car, this physical propulsion is usually stopped by another impact with a…
Motor vehicle crashes involving flatbed, semi-trucks, or tractor-trailers can lead to serious injury or death. According to statistics compiled by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in 2015 4,311 large trucks and buses were involved in fatal crashes, an eight percent increase from 2014. The Federal Highway Administration reports there…
If you have a herniated disc injury, the results of your MRI will be crucial to the settlement value or trial value of your case. The insurance adjusters and lawyers will probably spend more time debating the significance of your MRI than any other part of your case. Why is…
Recorded Statements Rarely Help I’m getting another case ready for trial where I have to explain honest and consistent statements given in good faith to the insurance company that their lawyer is not trying to take completely out of context to make them stand for something very different from what…
In Carr v. Cinnamon, a California appellate court applied the same rule we have here in Maryland: the finder of fact can award whatever they want for noneconomic damages, including zero even when it seems preposterous that a person could suffer medical bills and have no pain and suffering. Plaintiff’s…
I read an interesting article in the European Spine Journal titled “The association between a lifetime history of a neck injury in a motor vehicle collision and future neck pain: a population-based cohort study.” Yes, that’s a big title. But the study looked at an incredibly simple issue: are neck…