Arizona Accident Information Law Blog : Arizona Personal Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Solomon & Relihan Law Firm : Auto Accidents & Car Wrecks : AZ Accident Information Law Blog

You bet. After your car has been repaired it is worth less, even if it looks and drives as good as it did before the accident.

Your car has suffered “diminished value” and you are entitled to claim that loss along with the other losses you have suffered in the accident.

Your attorney will need to have a property damage expert examine your car, before it is repaired, if possible, and also review the damage estimate prepared by the body shop.

The expert then determines what the market value for your car is before and after the accident and provide you with his professional evaluation of the loss you have suffered.

The loss can depend greatly on the type of vehicle, the mileage, the condition it was in before the loss, and the local, and sometimes the national market value for your vehicle, at the time of the loss.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

Former clients call and ask for advice about what to do when they are involved in a minor auto accident.

They tell me that they have been in an accident but, other than being a little sore, they feel fine. They go on to say that the insurance company has offered to repair their car, pay for their emergency room visit and give them $500 for any “inconvenience”. What should they do?

This happens so frequently that it does not take me long to reply. I tell them the story about a similar call I received when I first started practicing law.

Many years ago, a young woman called for her husband who had recently been involved in a “minor” collision. She told me that since he had only been sore for a couple of days after the accident, he agreed to settle his claim for $1,500 (which back then was a great deal of money for a “no injury” claim).

Six or seven weeks later, his soreness became radiating pain which eventually required surgery costing many thousands of dollars. However, since he had given up his right to recover, he was not able to be compensated for any more than the original $1,500.00.

The lesson is, don’t be in a hurry to settle a “minor” collision accident, even with only “a little soreness”.

Injuries may take time to develop and mature. As a general rule, settling any claim in less than six months may not be a good idea.

Every injury is different and the decision to settle should not be made in haste.

Consulting with an attorney soon after the accident in order to get a professional opinion about the specific facts of your accident is sound advice, even coming from an attorney.
 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

A semi-truck in Phoenix, Arizona kills three and critically injures a fourth occupant of a passenger car by running a red light according to an article by Emily Dean, appearing in the Arizona Republic on April 6, 2009.

Why did the driver of the semi-truck run the red light? Was it inattention or something more sinister, like fatigue as a result of not adhering to federal law requiring frequent driver rests when traveling interstate?

Unfortunately, driver fatigue is much too common when commercial pressures force interstate drivers to violate safety regulations.

Our prayers go out to the family of the victims of this tragedy and we can only hope that the owners and drivers of semi-trucks adhere to regulations designed to protect the public.
 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

In Arizona, as in other states, when an injury is claimed in litigation the defense is entitled, as a matter of right, to have the injured plaintiff examined by a physician.

In Arizona, these exams are entitled, “independent medical examinations” and are conducted by hand picked physicians who are anything but “independent”.

Although reason dictates that the defense should be entitled to have the plaintiff claiming an injury examined by a physician, the system as it now exists is merely gamesmanship.

These “independent” physicians uniformly prepare reports which claim that the injured plaintiff is not injured at all, but in fact is only seeking money.

These reports become suspect when the same “independent” physician writes the same boilerplate report for every plaintiff being examined.

As was recently reported in a New York Times article written by N.R. Kleinfeld, Dr. Hershel Samuels, an independent medical examiner in New York state’s workers’ compensation system stated that, “If you did a truly pure report, you’d be out on your ears and the insurers wouldn’t pay for it. You have to give them what they want, or you’re in Florida. That’s the game, baby”.

Another method for obtaining a truly independent medical examination and evaluation, for the defense, would be for a list of physicians to be assembled by the court. Every medical examination requested by the defense would be conducted by one of these physicians, on a rotating basis, from this list.

When gamesmanship ends, justice can begin.
 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks