• If you write the insurance company a letter and are reasonable, you will get a reasonable settlement proposal. NOT TRUE! Believe it or not, the insurance companies are in business to make a profit, not to help people. They make more money by denying your claim or trying to lowball you in hope that you accept the ridiculous offer they gave you.

• When you are in an accident and the insurance company calls you to ask for a recorded statement, you have to give them a recorded statement or they wonʼt settle with you. NOT TRUE! Insurance companies love to get a recorded statement from an unsuspecting accident victim. They will use any trick they can to get you to say things that incriminate yourself and will try and twist your words around.

• All lawyers who advertise that they handle accident cases have the same ability, tools and experience to handle your case. NOT TRUE! Some lawyers have very little experience.

• The insurance company for the person who hit you is obligated to pay your medical bills as they become due. NOT TRUE! They will almost always wait until you have finished all of your treatment before they pay you anything.

• All lawyers charge the same fees in injury cases. NOT TRUE! The industry standard for a lawyer’s contingency fee is 33% if your case settles out-of-court and 40% if suit is filed.

• The court system is some sort of lottery that will help you get rich. NOT TRUE! We only help people that we feel were truly injured because of somebody else’s fault. If we think you are dishonest or not really injured we will not take your case.

• Just because there has been an accident and it wasnʼt your fault, there must be some insurance company that will pay for your bills, lost wages and injuries. NOT TRUE! There are more and more uninsured drivers in Virginia now, perhaps more than ever before. Many people have inadequate uninsured motorist insurance, which could be the only thing between you and bankruptcy if you are badly injured by an uninsured driver.

• If a lawyer refers you to a doctor, that is a good idea. NOT TRUE! It is not ethical for a lawyer to refer you to a doctor.

• Juries in Virginia are generous. NOT TRUE! Juries in Virginia are tough and the laws are stacked in favor of the insurance companies.

• There is a formula for determining settlement value. NOT TRUE! Every case is different and you should never trust any lawyer that guarantees you will get a certain amount of money for your personal injury claim.

What is comparative negligence? When a claim for damages caused by an auto accident is filed with a court, a judge or jury must determine who caused the accident. Typically, the person whose negligence caused the accident or the person who is determined to be at-fault for the accident pays for the damage. However, if more than one person caused the damage, the negligence is distributed between the parties. Based on the evidence, the judge or jury will allocate the amount or percentage that each party was negligent.

However, this is not the law in Virginia. In this state, a 400-year-old English law still rules. According to the law of contributory negligence, if two people are in an accident, the injured person can only recover for his or her injuries and damages if they did not contribute to the accident in any way. This approach was based on an archaic law established in England, which stated that a person who negligently causes harm to another cannot be held liable if that injured individual contributed to his own suffering and injury, even if it was only a very small factor.

In states such as Virginia, this contributory negligence law works against the plaintiff at most times. It gives insurance companies and lawyers for insurance companies an added weapon in their arsenal to reduce the value of a plaintiff’s claim or blow it off altogether. A clever or creative insurance lawyer can always come up with some argument that maybe the injured person did something wrong. For example, if one driver blew through a stop sign and broadsided the other person, then the insurance lawyer could argue that the person who was hit should have seen the other driver who broke the rules of the road by running a stop sign.

With the odds stacked up against them with this unfair contributory negligence law, plaintiffs in Virginia would be well-advised to seek the counsel of an experienced, knowledgeable and skilled Virginia car accident injury lawyer who will fight for their rights and make sure they get the justice and compensation they rightfully deserve.

1. Don’t drink and drive: If you have been drinking let someone else do the driving. Do not get behind the wheel even “if you feel fine” or think you can manage to get back home safely.

2. Look at other options: Catch a cab. Make a deal with a spouse or a friend to be the “designated driver” for the evening. Find out in advance what types of services are available in your area for New Year’s Eve partyers. If you cannot find a ride to get back home, stay where you are until you sober up.

3. Don’t ride with a drunk driver: Do not get in the car with a friend or an acquaintance if you know they have been drinking too. Do not get in the car even if they may look normal or able to drive, if you know they have been drinking. The most common symptoms of someone who has been drinking include slurred speech, red eyes, smell of alcohol in the breath and an unsteady gait. Watch out for these symptoms.

4. Be watchful on the road: If you decide to drive on New Year’s Eve, always keep an eye out for drivers who are operating under the influence. If you see someone who is driving erratically, report them to the authorities immediately so they are taken off the road.

5. Be a good friend: If someone you know is in no position to drive, take away their keys and help them catch a cab so they can get home safely.

6. A good party host: If you are having people over for a party, give them the option to stay the night.

If you or a loved one ends up getting injured as a result of a drunk driver or negligent driver, please contact an experienced Virginia auto accident lawyer.

• Drive slower than you normally would and maintain enough distance between you and the vehicle in front of you so you have plenty of room to stop. In such conditions, you should allow at least three times more space than usual between you and the car in front of you.
• Brake gently to avoid skidding. If your wheels lock up, ease off the brakes.
• Keep your lights and windshield clean. Turn on your lights so you are visible to other motorists on the roadway.
• Use low gears to keep traction, especially on hills.
• Do not use cruise control or overdrive on icy roads.
• Use caution on bridges, overpasses and infrequently traveled roads. These are the areas that will freeze first.
• Be very careful around snow plows and sanding trucks. The drivers of these vehicles have limited visibility.
• Do not assume that your vehicle can handle any condition. Even if you are driving a four-wheel or front-wheel drive vehicle, you can come face to face with problems on an icy road.
• Always keep your eyes open for erratic drivers or out-of-control vehicles.

If you or a loved one is seriously injured in a Virginia auto accident as a result of a negligent driver or a defective roadway, you may be able to seek compensation to cover medical expenses, lost wages, cost of hospitalization and other related expenses and damages.

Let’s start at the very beginning: Just what is a Virginia personal injury case? Lawyers say that they handle “personal injury cases” or “Virginia car accident injury cases” or “wrongful death cases,” and yet my wife Margaret tells me that she does not think that everyone understands exactly what this means. Indeed, people who have known me for years will come up to me and ask me for a referral to a car accident attorney! They do this even though I think that they know exactly what it is that I do.

A personal injury, car accident, or wrongful death case is any type of claim where a person has been injured or killed due to someone else’s carelessness. If the only damage in your case is that your car got banged up, then you don’t have a personal injury case – but you may have a property damage case. If both you and your car have suffered an injury, then you have both a personal injury and a property damage claim. In those circumstances, either your insurance company or their insurance company will usually take care of the property damage claim.

If someone’s negligence causes the death of another, then this is called a “wrongful death” claim. The law of each state or jurisdiction differs significantly regarding what can be recovered in a wrongful death case. You need an attorney who understands the specialized wrongful death laws of the state where the death occurred.

You Are At War-But It’s a War That Can Be Won

The day you were injured, you entered a war zone. Insurance companies and some in the government have declared war on injured people and their attorneys. They have waged the war in the media and their propaganda has had a tremendous effect on juries and their verdicts. This is called tort reform. The success that the insurance companies have had in tainting the minds of jurors has emboldened them to not offer fair settlements until you prove to them that you are ready, willing and able to go to trial.

Admit it. Until you or a family member were injured, you, too, may have thought that a personal injury lawyer was a bad person and that people who make claims and file lawsuits were stealing from society. That’s what billions of dollars in insurance company advertising will get you!

What Must You Prove to Win Your Case?

Just because you were hurt doesn’t mean you are entitled to money. You must prove that someone else was negligent or careless and that it was his or her negligence or carelessness that caused your injury. If you fail to do this, you lose. If you sue the wrong person, you lose. If you wait too long to sue, you lose. If you had an injury before the accident, then you are only entitled to be compensated to the extent that your injury is now worse.

In Virginia, if you were in any way at fault, you lose. This is known as the law of contributory negligence. This means that if the “other guy” was 99 percent at fault and you were 1 percent at fault, then you cannot recover anything. Sound fair? Hardly! Virginia is one of only three states in the country that has this rule. Most states will “compare” the negligence between two people and apportion damages appropriately.

Do You Really Need An Attorney To Settle Your Case?

You definitely do not need an attorney for every small injury case. In fact, our office does not even accept cases where there’s little or no property damage or the injuries are minor. Why not? Simple. In the small case, the attorney fee and costs might leave little or nothing for you after your medical bills are paid, and we don’t believe that would be fair to you. If your case is small and you would like to try to handle the case yourself, with our advice, we do charge a small consulting fee. This may save you thousands!

Before you decide whether to hire an attorney…

Did you know that a 1999 study found that insurance companies pay higher settlements to injured people who use an attorney than those who do not?

It’s true. In 1999, the insurance industry performed a study to find out if people who had accident claims received more money in settlement by using an attorney than those people who settled on their own. The Insurance Research Council, a non-profit organization that is supported by leading property and casualty insurance companies across the United States, performed the study. The mission of the IRC (IRCweb.org) is to advance the insurance industry’s view on matters crucial to insurance companies. The IRC found that people who used an attorney received, on average, 3 1⁄2 times more money in settlement than those individuals who settled on their own.