Most injury cases are not slam dunks. While you may very well have an injury case worth thousands of dollars, most injury cases are not worth six or seven figures. In this video, I will discuss three reasons why your injury case may fail. If you have been injured due to someone else’s neglect you should consider hiring a Louisville injury attorney.
Reason 1: You Cannot Prove Liability Against Another Party
The first reason your case may fail is you cannot prove liability against another party. To illustrate this point, I will talk about Tiger Woods’ February 23, 2021 car accident.
Tiger Woods’ Car Accident
According to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, Tiger was traveling alone when his single-vehicle accident occurred just after 7 a.m. Tiger struck the center median, crossed into the opposing lane of traffic, and landed off the side of the roadway. As a result of the accident, Tiger suffered significant open fractures to his right leg, affecting both the upper and lower portion of the tibia and fibula bones. This required emergency surgery. Tiger was also knocked unconscious, had lacerations to his lower front jaw, bruised his right and left ribcages, and injured his ankle.
Investigation Findings
According to the reports released by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office, it was concluded that Tiger was at fault in the collision for driving at an unsafe speed and due to his inability to negotiate a curve in the roadway. Data pulled from the black box of the vehicle Tiger was driving indicated that Tiger was traveling straight, but no brakes were applied and no steering input was detected. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sergeant Michael Downing wrote in his report that had Tiger applied his brakes to reduce his speed or steered to correct the direction of travel, he would not have collided with the center median and the collision would not have occurred.
Proving Liability in Single-Vehicle Accidents
You may be thinking, well, isn’t it obvious that someone in a single-vehicle accident cannot bring a liability claim since no one else is involved? Well, not necessarily. It is possible to recover damages from a liable party in a single-vehicle accident. For example, if Tiger could have proven that the vehicle he was driving was defective in some way, like if the steering system was defective and that defect caused him to crash, he may have had a liability claim against the manufacturer of the vehicle. Another example is if he could have proven the road where the accident occurred was unreasonably dangerous and that the accident occurred due to the unreasonably dangerous condition of the road, he may have been able to bring a liability claim against the government entity responsible for the roadway.
Conclusion
Despite Tiger’s significant injuries, it is very unlikely that he could have brought a liability claim against the government entity that could legally recover any compensation against any at-fault party. There simply appears to be no evidence suggesting that there is any liable party to pursue damages. Your injury claim will fail if you cannot prove another party was liable for your accident. In most car accident cases, the liable party is going to be a negligent driver, such as a driver that ran a red light or stop sign or rear-ends your vehicle when you were stopped. Other possible liable parties include an auto manufacturer if the vehicle was defective or a government entity in the event the road is unreasonably dangerous.
Reason 2: You Get Minimal Amount of Medical Treatment
If you’re in pain following an accident but don’t get much medical treatment, you should not expect to receive much compensation for your injury claim. In fact, in Kentucky, the state I practice in, you are barred from even bringing an injury claim following a motor vehicle accident unless you have at least $1,000 in medical treatment. If you are referred to physical therapy or a medical specialist and you miss your appointments with them, the value of your injury claim is going to be minimal. More importantly, it compromises your health.
Importance of Medical Treatment
Skipping medical treatment puts you at an enormous risk of weakening your overall health. Your physical health should be your priority, with legal concerns only serving as a secondary priority. But with regard to your legal claim, remaining consistent with your medical treatment is vital to ensuring a favorable resolution to your injury claim. The value of an injury claim is highly dependent upon the amount of medical treatment you receive and especially has a great impact on the value of your pain and suffering damages. Not seeking appropriate medical care for your injuries also compromises your credibility. Your credibility in your injury case is crucial, especially if a lawsuit is filed in your case.
Reason 3: The At-Fault Party Has No Insurance or Limited Insurance
You could have sustained injuries that are going to leave you in a wheelchair for the rest of your life, but if there is no insurance available to pursue from an at-fault party, your claim may be worthless. If there is no insurance policy against which to make your injury claim and the at-fault party doesn’t have deep pockets, the value of your case is likely zero. If the at-fault party has no insurance and no significant personal assets to pursue, it’s very likely the case that the at-fault party is judgment-proof. Thus, even if your case was litigated and you got a judgment against that party, it will likely do you no good because there is no way to enforce the judgment if the party has no insurance and no limited money or assets to pursue.
Protecting Yourself with Insurance
In car accident cases, the only thing you can do to protect yourself and your loved ones in your vehicle is to purchase uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on your own automobile insurance policy. Uninsured motorist insurance coverage will protect you and your passengers in your vehicle in the event the at-fault driver has no insurance. Underinsured motorist insurance coverage will protect you and your loved ones if the at-fault driver does not have enough insurance to cover you or your loved ones’ damages.
Conclusion
Simply knowing the situations in which your injury claim may fail is good to know. But what if you are able to prove liability against another party, you had to get significant medical treatment, and there is significant insurance available to you for your injury claim? Under those circumstances, you want to get a maximum value settlement. To get a maximum value settlement in your case, there are certain strategies you can use to get the most amount possible for your settlement. In this video here, I’ll show you several tips you can use to get the maximum value and maximize your injury claim settlement. Lastly, if you’ve been injured in a car accident, slip or trip and fall incident, or dog bite incident in Kentucky, remember: don’t wait, call Tate.
Recent Comments