Articles Posted in Personal Injury

Being in a car accident, boating accident, motorcycle accident, pedestrian accident, bus accident, truck accident, or even a train accident, can not only result in serious bodily injuries, but also result in loss of earnings. In order for an injured person to recover damages for loss of earnings, he or she would have to show evidence of such a loss.

The following are usually required as basic evidence of loss of earnings:

Medical Records – usually explain how the particular injury may limit an individual’s ability to perform his or her job duties. Medical records of an injury victim – with a fractured hand for example, would explain why he would not be able to work.

Right after you hear the screeching tires and feel the force of the impact of another car hitting yours, you should always remember to do the following:

Call 911: After a car accident, you should always call the police, even if the other party insists that it is not necessary to do so.

Ask for Medical Help: Always, err on the side of caution. Even if you are not sure about the extent of your injuries, always ask to be checked out by the paramedics or your doctor. Car accidents, motorcycle accidents, or any other type of motor vehicle accidents usually result in soft tissue injuries that may not be apparent right away.

Carelessness is often the cause of many Los Angeles car accidents. Distractions in the car, such as the radio, pets, children, and most commonly cell phones are cited as the cause of many injury accidents in California. In Los Angeles, drivers spend hours in their cars, commuting to and from work; spending lots of time on their cell phones.

According to a study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NTSB), driver distraction was documented in 80% of auto accidents and was the main cause of 25-30% of auto accidents.

Although, using handheld cell phones while driving, have been illegal in California for some time, many still engage in this distracting and dangerous activity.

Many injury causing auto accidents, tend to happen at the intersections. Intersections are often controlled by stop signs or traffic lights. When drivers do not adhere to these traffic signals, chances of a serious traffic collision increase exponentially.

Running a stop sign, ignoring a red-light, making an unsafe turn, and speeding are common causes of auto accidents in intersections. Busy Los Angeles intersections, such as the ones in Encino, are scenes of many accidents that result in serious injuries, such as back injury, whiplash injury, head injury, burn injury, or even wrongful death.

An experienced local personal injury lawyer should be consulted immediately after a car accident. A car accident lawyer, who is experienced, aggressive and caring, can be a great asset in evaluating the case and getting compensation for an injury victim.

Operating a boat or any watercraft is no different than operating any vehicle. It should be done legally, with care, and with safety of the public at large in mind.

Unfortunately, too many Americans are hurt or killed every year in boating accidents every year. According to the U.S. Coast Guard’s Annual Recreational Boating Statistics in 2008, boating accidents resulted in 709 deaths, 3331 injuries and $54 million in property damage.

Boating collisions account for a large portion of the reported casualties and injuries. Alcohol, carelessness, drugs, and excessive speed are the leading causes of the boating accidents.

Anyone who is injured in California by the wrongdoing of another, is generally entitled to general damages, also known as pain and suffering.

Pain and suffering is compensation for any pain, discomfort, fears, anxiety, and other mental and emotional distress and anguish suffered by the injured person in a personal injury case.

For example if someone suffers severe neck injury, back injury, whiplash injury, brain injury, brain injury, fractured bones, or any other type of serious injury in a rear-end car accident in Los Angeles, other than compensation for the medical bills, and loss of earnings, that person is also entitled to a pain and suffering or general damages. In this example, the jury would consider awarding an amount that would be deemed appropriate for the type of injury suffered by the injured individual who was involved in this car accident, or other types of roadway accidents such as, motorcycle accident, trucking accident, pedestrian accident, or bus accident.

A tweny-three year old motorcyclist was fatally injured in an auto accident in Garden Grove, that involved an executive of one of the world’s largest automakers. The attorney for the family of the deceased motorcyclist, claims that the executive, who was drinking heavily at a company function, fled the scene of the accident, after fatally injuring the motorcyclist. The next day, the executive, was allegedly helped by his coworkers to leave the country.

Such serious injury accidents often happen during this time of the year, due to many office holiday parties that take place. These events are usually sponsored by the employers and are often held at restaurants, bars and other establishments that serve alcohol. In most circumstances, employees are encouraged to attend and participate in the festivities, which often involve drinking.

Under these types of circumstances, the injured party may have a claim for injuries, not only against the negligent and responsible driver, but also may be able to hold the employer responsible for the accident.

Many motorcycle accidents involve serious injuries or even death of the motorcyclist. Most motorcycle accidents happened due to the other motorists not being able to see the motorcycle.

In Many situations, the injured motorcyclist is too injured and hurt to even talk to the investigating officers or the first responders. Often this results in Traffic Collision Reports that are adverse to the injured motorcyclist and place him or her at fault for the accident.

An experienced injury lawyer who handles motorcycle accident cases in California (especially in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange and Riverside County) can assist an injured individual by gathering all helpful information from the witnesses, other parties involved, and most importantly remain involved with the investigating agencies, to insure that no evidence is left out of final report.

Many who commute in buses, vans, passenger cars with others types of vehicles, are injured in automobile accidents. Often these individuals are unaware of the fact that in most situations, regardless of which party causes the accident, they are entitled to compensation for their injuries.

As a commuter on a bus, rider of a shuttle van, passenger in a vehicle, or on a motorcycle you are not in control of the vehicle you are in. Therefore usually a passenger cannot be “at fault” for the accident. As always it is recommended that anyone who is involved in any type of injury accident, contact a car accident attorney to get a free consultation regarding his injury claim.

An experienced California injury lawyer can review your car accident, trucking accident, bus accident, or van accident case and determine which driver caused the accident and pursue an injury claim against the responsible party’s insurance company.

As you may know, the California Financial Responsibility Laws require all drivers to have valid liability insurance. Proposition 213 was voted on, and passed by California voters in 1996 and enacted in 1997 as Civil Code Section 3333.4. Civil Code Section 3333.4 limits recovery of uninsured drivers, so that they cannot recover pain and suffering as a result of an accident. Although there are exceptions to this rule, this law has resulted in many injury victims being penalized for not having valid liability insurance.

Therefore, if you are injured in an auto accident, you should contact an experienced injury lawyer to consult regarding your legal rights, even if you are uninsured. There are several exceptions to this limitation placed on injury victims that can be explored by an experienced California auto accident lawyer. The aggressive attorneys at the Sharifi Firm, APC in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange and Riverside Counties can assist you in handling of your injury case as a result of an auto accident, motorcycle accident, truck accident, bus accident or any other type of serious injury accident, such as injuries resulting in loss of a limb, fractures, back injuries, spinal cord injuries, head trauma, burn injuries and even wrongful death.

We are available for a FREE CONSULTATION and a FREE CASE EVALUATION 24 hours a day.