It is usually a misconception that victims of automobile accidents do not need attorneys. Until the victim of an automobile accident retains an attorney, the insurance company knows that the person they are dealing with is not currently prepared to take his or her case to court and is unlikely to offer fair compensation.
Today, given the horrendous stigmas associated with exercising one's legal right - especially when insurance companies routinely offer little or nothing for an accident unless the injured party has retained counsel - it is not uncommon for many victims injured in car accidents to attempt to negotiate directly with the insurance carrier themselves. In most instances, the individual is first met with feigned concern by the carrier, who then steadfastly proceeds to build a case against him/her.
Insurance companies routinely work with a select group of doctors who, unfortunately, tend to reach the same conclusions in virtually all cases, to wit: that little or no injury has been sustained. Obviously this is not the case where catastrophic injury has occurred, but even then, causation for the injury is often disputed, as is extent and need for future care. In short, the unwary injured victim of a car accident attempting to negotiate with the insurance carrier on his/her own soon learns the stark reality: insurance companies are in the business of taking premium dollars, not paying claims. By the time the carrier is done with you, it will have a recorded statement regarding cause of the accident, it will have had you examined by "their" doctors, and it will be in a position to justify why your claim is worth relatively little. Do yourself a favor; avoid this scenario at all costs.
Demonstrative evidence employed by The Scarlett Law Group in Auto Accident case. Aerial photographs are routinely commissioned in order that the jury visualize the accident scene | 
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Unfortunately, there are over 40,000 fatalities each year as a
result of automobile accidents. Over 3,500,000 injuries are sustained as a
result of over 6,500,000 crashes that occur in the United States each year.
It probably comes at no surprise that rear-end collisions (whiplash
accidents) are the most common vehicle collisions. Each year, well over
2,500,000 whiplash accidents are reported. Frontal collisions, rollover
accidents, side impacts are all too common.
While it is difficult to generalize, each type of accident can
produce different types of injuries. As we are increasingly learning, even
low speed impacts can cause significant injury.
Today, it is difficult to find jurors who have not been individually
involved in some type of automobile accident, or who do not know someone who
has. Juror's experiences often pre-dispose their views on automobile
accidents, the injuries resulting therefrom, and the lawsuit that ultimately
must be pursued by those injured during an automobile accident. Insurance
companies have likewise done much to taint prospective jurors' attitudes
about those who pursue lawsuits for injuries sustained in automobile
accidents.
Accordingly, the Scarlett Law Group does much to overcome juror
bias. During trial, the Scarlett Law Group often utilizes biomechanical
engineers to professionally demonstrate the awesome force involved upon the
body, even in low speed impacts. Accident reconstructionists are utilized
to re-enact the accident. Medical specialists provide the jury with
appropriate information about the injuries sustained, and the probable
residual impact of those injuries. In short, the Scarlett Law Group takes
the necessary steps to properly present the auto/auto, auto/pedestrian,
rollover, singular vehicle accident, and big rig/auto case.
If you or a loved one have been involved in a vehicular collision,
the Scarlett Law Group stands ready to assist you with your legal needs.
With focus on the handling of those catastrophically injured, and those
sustaining the loss of a loved one, the Scarlett Law Group is ready to
assist you when you need it the most.
Car Design
Lets face it, despite the efforts of the automobile industry, no vehicle can
be designed to withstand all of the forces typically at work in a severe
automobile accident.
For example, most bumper systems are designed to withstand a five
mile-per-hour impact without much damage. However, isolator/shock
absorber/piston bumpers, foam core bumpers, and honeycomb bumpers can, and
often do, sustain significant damage in accidents occurring as low a speed
as 8 to 10 miles-per-hour. Depending upon whether your vehicle is struck by
a moving vehicle, or whether your vehicle strikes a stationary object, other
significant forces can be brought to bear.
The type of accident involved, the size and crash worthiness of the
vehicles involved, and the utilization of airbags, shoulder harnesses, and
seatbelts, all play an important role in the type of injuries actually
sustained.
Unfortunately, traumatic brain injuries all to often result from the
acceleration/deceleration forces involved in a car accident. Soft tissues,
including whiplash injuries, as well as spinal injuries likewise are the all
to common result of an automobile accident. Internal injuries, bone
fractures, contusions and abrasions are common injuries sustained in an
automobile accident. In many instances, symptoms of the injuries can take
up to seventy-two hours to manifest themselves. Following an accident, if
you experience dizziness, vision problems, headaches, difficulty with memory
and concentration, or sustain back pain, neck pain or muscle aches, it is
important that you consult with a healthcare professional as soon as is
possible.
The insurance industry is not in the business of paying claims. To
the contrary, do not be surprised if the carrier for the culpable driver
denies that your injuries were sustained as a result of the automobile
accident. This is especially so where treatment is not immediate or if the
vehicles' evidence little damage.
Just as there are a wide range of injuries that often times result
from automobile accidents, the symptoms from these injuries may take a
significant period of time before they manifest. This is especially so with
individuals sustaining diffuse axonal shearing, or other traumatic brain
injury. Headaches, blurred vision, dizziness, change in taste, smell or
hearing, attention deficits, and other concentration problems should be
carefully monitored by appropriate healthcare professionals.
Rollover accidents can cause a roof to collapse, thereby resulting
in injury to the occupants of the vehicle. As an occupant comes into
contact with any collapsing part of a motor vehicle, injury is almost
assured. During rollover accidents, it is not uncommon for passengers to be
ejected from the vehicle and severe injuries, including fatalities, result.
Car seating can also be a cause of significant injury. Remember,
never put children under eleven years of age in the front seat. According
to the NHTSA, these children should be seated in the back of the vehicle
with a seat belt and shoulder harness on. Extremely young children should
be placed in rear-facing infant seats, also in the back of the vehicle.
The primary consideration at work behind these guidelines are
dangers resulting from airbags. Airbags deploy in an extremely fast
fashion. Generally, a sensor, in conjunction with an onboard computer,
decides whether or not an airbag ought to be deployed in an accident. Often
times, the sensor is triggered by the change in velocity of the vehicle
itself.
Airbags are known to cause fatal injuries in infants improperly
placed in the front seat. Injuries to adults can occur as well. These
injuries can include injuries to the head, chest, face, arms, eyes, and jaw.
Fractures, as well as bruises and abrasions are common. This is especially
so where the adult is sitting within a foot of the airbag console.
The restraint systems themselves - be they seatbelts or seatbelts
with shoulder harnesses - can likewise cause injury. All to often, however,
the benefits of utilizing such systems far outweigh the risks involved.
Defectively designed and manufactured vehicles, as well as those vehicles
not properly maintained, can often be the cause of accidents. An automobile
manufacturer may be responsible under legal theories of strict product
liability where it is established that the design of the vehicle caused harm
to the operator and occupants.
Similarly, an automobile manufacturer may be held responsible under a legal
theory of strict products liability where a manufacturing defect so caused
the accident, or where the manufacturer failed to warn the consumer about a
known defect.
Other legal theories may include breach of the implied warranty of
merchantability, breach of the implied warranty of fitness for a particular
purpose, breach of warranty of title and sales contracts, and products
liability - negligence.
The Scarlett Law Group promptly investigates the cause of the accident. No
stone is left unturned during the investigative process. From driver
negligence, to products failure, the Scarlett Law Group analyzes all
causative factors involved in a collision.
Vehicle Maintenance
 Generally, and subject to the law of the jurisdiction in which you reside
and a particular accident occurs, a motorist who fails to exercise that
degree of care that an ordinarily prudent person would exercise in
maintaining his/her automobile in a reasonably safe running condition will
be found liable for any loss suffered by victims of this negligence, if the
negligence contributes to the happening of an accident. [See, e.g., Sherman
v. Frank, (1944), 63 Cal.App.2d 278, 282.]
Unfortunately, negligent maintenance is all too common a cause for
truck/big rig/automobile accidents.
In Arroyo v. Arden Farms Co., (1966) 239 Cal.App.2d 332, the California
Courts held that evidence was sufficient to support a finding that the
defendant truck driver and the defendant owner of the truck were both
negligent with respect to a rear-end collision involving an automobile which
had stopped suddenly to avoid a laundry truck pulling out into the
automobile's lane of traffic. The Court found that both defendant truck
driver and the defendant owner of the truck knew, or reasonably should have
known, months before the accident that the breaking mechanism on the truck
was becoming increasingly defective and dangerous.
The fact that an accident alone occurs is not sufficient for a
plaintiff to sustain his/her burden of proof. The cause of the accident
must be investigated, and presented in an appropriate manner to the jury.
The fault for the subject accident must be unambiguously established.
Motor Vehicle Negligence
Generally, an action for negligence requires a showing that the defendant
vehicle operator breached a legal duty owed to the injured plaintiff, and
that the breach of such duty was a proximate or legal cause of the
plaintiff's injuries.
For example, in California, a motorist, driving on either the public
or private roads, must exercise the degree of care and caution that an
ordinarily careful and prudent person, acting in the same or similar
circumstances, would exercise for the safety of others traveling on the
road. [See, e.g., Sills v. Forbes, (1939) 33 Cal.App.2d 219, 227.]
It is well established in most states that a motorist, must, at all
times, use ordinary care to avoid colliding with another, and must be alert
and watchful so as not to place himself/herself in danger, and, while such
motorist may assume that others will use ordinary care, he/she cannot for
that reason omit any of the care that the law demands of him/her.
Pedestrians are also required to use ordinary care. However,
drivers of vehicles must be use ordinary care to prevent injuries to
pedestrians.
Whether or not a driver's view was obstructed, whether the motorist
was in violation of the Vehicle Code or other statute, the knowledge of the
motorist as to the conditions, and the weather conditions are all factors to
be considered in the investigation of an accident.
For example, in many states, an injured motorist can legally
establish his/her claim through utilization of the legal theory of
negligence per se. Generally, in order to establish negligence per se, the
injured party must show that a defendant motorist violated a statute,
ordinance or regulation. The violation of that statute must have
proximately caused the injury, and the injury must have resulted from an
occurrence of the nature, which the statute was designed to prevent.
Lastly, in most jurisdictions, the injured party must establish that he/she
was one of the class of persons for whose protection this statute was
adopted. [See, e.g., California Evidence Code, Section 669].
An example of negligence per se follows: A motorist suddenly stops
her automobile without first giving an appropriate signal to the driver of
the vehicle which was immediately behind her. The vehicle behind collided
with her automobile, there being no showing that she did not have a
reasonable opportunity to give the required signal before stopping. Under
virtually these circumstances, a court in California found that the
motorist's failure to give signal of her intention to stop constituted
negligence per se. [See, e.g., Lutz v. Schendel, (1959) 175 Cal.App.2d 140;
California Vehicle Code Sections 22109, 22110].
Common Carrier
A common carrier is anyone who offered to the public to carry persons,
property or messages for hire. In California, and certain other states, a
carrier for persons for reward must use the utmost care and diligence for
their safe carriage, must provide everything for that purpose, and must
exercise a reasonable degree of skill. Such carrier must provide vehicles
that are safe and fit for their intended purpose and generally, are not
excused from omissions in this regard.
Bus lines, train lines, ship lines, and other common carriers are
often involved in accidents causing injury.
Your legal specialist should be aware of the distinctions under the
law, which may apply to common carrier accidents. If you, or a loved one,
have been involved in an accident involving a common carrier, the Scarlett
Law Group has the expertise to assist you through your difficult times.
If you or someone you know has been injured
as the result of an auto accident or car crash,
you need the assistance of The Scarlett Law Group.
Call 800-262-7576
today to speak with a California Personal Injury Attorney.
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