Injury and Accident Lawyer

1. Fail to hear their name being called as they talk on their cell phone for six hours straight.

 

2. Light up a cigarette despite all of the no smoking and oxygen warning signs.

 

3. Offer a bribe to go to the front of the waiting list.

 

4. Order pizza to be delivered.

 

5. Make jokes about the nurses and get overheard.

 

6. Use the word, “malpractice” in any sentence.

 

7. Claim to be a celebrity.

 

8. Pace back and forth by the nurse’s station.

 

9. Irritate the security guard.

 

10. Put your iPod on speakers.

 

Here are ten useful tips of advice from a personal injury lawyer to follow if you have been in an accident. You can also learn more about how to handle a personal injury in Torrance, or any city, by calling the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson at any of the numbers which can be found on our website at http://www.SebastianGibsonLaw.com  and learning how we can assist you.

 

Obviously, if you have had an accident, and you are reading all of this advice, it’s probably been at least a few days since the accident. However, if it’s only been a few hours or if you ever have another accident, here’s what you should do the next time from the start.

 

First, take a look around and determine if you or anyone, are hurt. If so, taking steps like trying to prevent further injury or loss of blood are the most important thing you can do. Even if some other driver caused you to be injured, it’s just good manners to help the other driver if they are hurt. They may even be so thankful that they admit their fault to you. The worst thing you can do is get angry or start a fight.

 

Second, make sure everyone is safe from being injured further. If you are in the middle of traffic, and you are dizzy, sit down away from traffic. If your vehicle is a traffic hazard and you have accident warning devices like flares or triangles, put them out on the road to warn other drivers and get away from the car. Let the police an other emergency personnel investigate the scene with the vehicles in place and move them more safely at a later point.

 

Third, call the police. Accident reports are extremely helpful if the police will do such a report. Let the police know you are injured immediately. Answer the police questions honestly. But if you are dazed or confused, let them know you need medical treatment and answer only what you feel sure about. Remember, your statements can and will be used against you if you admit fault, and it will be too late and too fishy to later say you didn’t know what you were saying at the scene. Police know that your best recollection is immediately after an accident.

 

Fourth, get the other driver’s information including their names, addresses, driver’s license numbers, make and model of their vehicles, license plate numbers, and their insurance company name and policy number. If there are witnesses, get their names, addresses and telephone numbers as well. If the other driver makes any admissions of fault, write those down as well.

 

Fifth, if you have a camera on your cell phone or in the car and you aren’t too injured, take some photos of the vehicles and the scene. If you can’t do it right away, do it after you are released from the hospital.

Sixth, if you are hurt, obtain medical treatment. Don’t decline the ambulance or hospital examination to save your insurance company money or to be stoic. Take your valuables out of your car if you can and get checked out at the hospital. If you are not hurt, don’t get treatment you don’t need. However, remember, after an accident, you may feel a rush of adrenaline that causes you to only start feeling symptoms of pain a few hours later. If you have a health plan that requires you to obtain permission first, call them and find out where you are allowed to seek treatment.

 

Seventh, call a good personal injury lawyer as soon as you have had your initial treatment, so the attorney can gather other important evidence and prevent the insurance company from taking advantage of you and obtaining such things as recorded statements that you feel fine, when many of your symptoms have yet to manifest themselves. A good personal injury lawyer can save you from making a great deal of mistakes and can shoulder much of the hassle of knowing what to do about car repairs, car rentals, medical treatment, witness statements and the like. If you think you will save money by not having an attorney, think again. A good personal injury lawyer can almost always obtain much higher settlements, obtain reductions of medical bills and insurance liens and prevent you from making costly mistakes. Also, most personal injury attorneys advance costs of obtaining police reports, medical records and the like and are paid and reimbursed for these costs only out of any settlement.

 

Eight, you will need to report the accident to your insurance company, but since they will want to take a recorded statement from you, just like any other driver’s insurance company, it’s good advice to retain an attorney first. And if the other driver did not have insurance, remember that it is your own insurance company that will be your adversary. You will also need to report the accident to the Department of Motor Vehicles and your lawyer can give you the form for this.

 

Ninth, do not agree to settle your claim privately with the person at fault for the accident. This almost never works out to your advantage. Don’t agree not to call the police. Police reports that determine the fault for an accident are golden. Your agreement to not involve the police only affords an opportunity for the other driver to change his story and blame you when the police will no longer investigate the accident.

 

Tenth, don’t pay a traffic ticket without a fight if you weren’t at fault or agree to accept a small payment for your vehicle repairs without knowing that the amount will in fact cover the cost of all the repairs.

 

If you’ve had a personal injury in Torrance, Long Beach, Santa Monica, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Marina del Rey, Carson, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Oxnard, Cambria or San Luis Obispo, or anywhere in Southern California, we have the knowledge and resources to be your Torrance Personal Injury Lawyer and your Carson Personal Injury Attorney. Be sure to hire a California law firm with auto, motorcycle, truck, bicycle, pedestrian, car, bus, train, boat and airplane accident experience, wrongful death experience and insurance law expertise who can ensure you are properly represented and get the compensation you deserve.

 

If you have a personal injury legal matter, a dog bite or if you’ve lost a loved one in a wrongful death accident, call the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson, or visit our website at http://www.SebastianGibsonLaw.com  and learn how we can assist you.

Originally published here.

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R. Sebastian Gibson

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1) A kid ran out into the middle of the road. I heroically swerved and hit this car instead.

 

2) I was speeding because I think I’m sick.

 

3) I’m new in this town and I just wanted to meet a nice policeman.

 

4) There was this UFO and it was hovering just over the road.

 

5) I was at a full stop when the other car backed into me at the light.

 

6) What accident? This little fender bender.

 

7) I was racing away from you because I thought you were on a high speed police chase.

 

Let me get back to you on that one.

 

9) I wouldn’t exactly say that you could honestly not think that if I was going to be thinking what you were seeing was what happened, then you would know I’m not at fault.

 

10) I would have stopped but I didn’t hear the siren with my headphones on.

 

Here are ten useful tips of advice from a personal injury lawyer to follow if you have been in an accident. You can also learn more about how to handle a personal injury in Rialto, or any city, by calling the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson at any of the numbers which can be found on our website at http://www.SebastianGibsonLaw.com  and learning how we can assist you.

 

Obviously, if you have had an accident, and you are reading all of this advice, it’s probably been at least a few days since the accident. However, if it’s only been a few hours or if you ever have another accident, here’s what you should do the next time from the start.

 

First, take a look around and determine if you or anyone, are hurt. If so, taking steps like trying to prevent further injury or loss of blood are the most important thing you can do. Even if some other driver caused you to be injured, it’s just good manners to help the other driver if they are hurt. They may even be so thankful that they admit their fault to you. The worst thing you can do is get angry or start a fight.

 

Second, make sure everyone is safe from being injured further. If you are in the middle of traffic, and you are dizzy, sit down away from traffic. If your vehicle is a traffic hazard and you have accident warning devices like flares or triangles, put them out on the road to warn other drivers and get away from the car. Let the police an other emergency personnel investigate the scene with the vehicles in place and move them more safely at a later point.

 

Third, call the police. Accident reports are extremely helpful if the police will do such a report. Let the police know you are injured immediately. Answer the police questions honestly. But if you are dazed or confused, let them know you need medical treatment and answer only what you feel sure about. Remember, your statements can and will be used against you if you admit fault, and it will be too late and too fishy to later say you didn’t know what you were saying at the scene. Police know that your best recollection is immediately after an accident.

 

Fourth, get the other driver’s information including their names, addresses, driver’s license numbers, make and model of their vehicles, license plate numbers, and their insurance company name and policy number. If there are witnesses, get their names, addresses and telephone numbers as well. If the other driver makes any admissions of fault, write those down as well.

 

Fifth, if you have a camera on your cell phone or in the car and you aren’t too injured, take some photos of the vehicles and the scene. If you can’t do it right away, do it after you are released from the hospital.

Sixth, if you are hurt, obtain medical treatment. Don’t decline the ambulance or hospital examination to save your insurance company money or to be stoic. Take your valuables out of your car if you can and get checked out at the hospital. If you are not hurt, don’t get treatment you don’t need. However, remember, after an accident, you may feel a rush of adrenaline that causes you to only start feeling symptoms of pain a few hours later. If you have a health plan that requires you to obtain permission first, call them and find out where you are allowed to seek treatment.

 

Seventh, call a good personal injury lawyer as soon as you have had your initial treatment, so the attorney can gather other important evidence and prevent the insurance company from taking advantage of you and obtaining such things as recorded statements that you feel fine, when many of your symptoms have yet to manifest themselves. A good personal injury lawyer can save you from making a great deal of mistakes and can shoulder much of the hassle of knowing what to do about car repairs, car rentals, medical treatment, witness statements and the like. If you think you will save money by not having an attorney, think again. A good personal injury lawyer can almost always obtain much higher settlements, obtain reductions of medical bills and insurance liens and prevent you from making costly mistakes. Also, most personal injury attorneys advance costs of obtaining police reports, medical records and the like and are paid and reimbursed for these costs only out of any settlement.

 

Eight, you will need to report the accident to your insurance company, but since they will want to take a recorded statement from you, just like any other driver’s insurance company, it’s good advice to retain an attorney first. And if the other driver did not have insurance, remember that it is your own insurance company that will be your adversary. You will also need to report the accident to the Department of Motor Vehicles and your lawyer can give you the form for this.

 

Ninth, do not agree to settle your claim privately with the person at fault for the accident. This almost never works out to your advantage. Don’t agree not to call the police. Police reports that determine the fault for an accident are golden. Your agreement to not involve the police only affords an opportunity for the other driver to change his story and blame you when the police will no longer investigate the accident.

 

Tenth, don’t pay a traffic ticket without a fight if you weren’t at fault or agree to accept a small payment for your vehicle repairs without knowing that the amount will in fact cover the cost of all the repairs.

 

If you’ve had a personal injury in Rialto, Redlands, Hemet, Perris, Colton, Highland, Yucaipa, Riverside, San Bernardino, Moreno Valley, Fontana, Apple Valley, or anywhere in Southern California, we have the knowledge and resources to be your Rialto Personal Injury Lawyer and your Fontana Personal Injury Attorney. Be sure to hire a California law firm with auto, motorcycle, truck, bicycle, pedestrian, car, bus, train, boat and airplane accident experience, wrongful death experience and insurance law expertise who can ensure you are properly represented and get the compensation you deserve.

 

If you have a personal injury legal matter, a dog bite or if you’ve lost a loved one in a wrongful death accident, call the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson, or visit our website at http://www.SebastianGibsonLaw.com  and learn how we can assist you.

Originally published here.

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R. Sebastian Gibson

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Construction jobs are full of cutting, building, riveting, sawing, and sorts of other industrious activities. Unfortunately, as advanced as our safety measures have become, accidents still do happen.

An important thing to remember about construction site injury is the broad range of damage that can be dealt. Injury can be something as commonplace as repetitive stress to something as serious as death.

This article is here to explore the most common ways people get hurt in the construction industry, the kinds of stresses they have to deal with post-accident, and what can be done legally to get the proper compensation.

Discussing Common Workplace Accidents:

Let’s analyze some of the most common accidents that occur on the construction site.

* Falling Accidents. When it comes to construction, there are often scenarios where workers need to negotiate elevated locations. Some examples include scaffolding, girders, building structures, and building exteriors. Falling from even a modest height can result in serious injury or death.

* Falling Objects. It’s not always the person that falls – many times it’s objects. During construction lots of material is being broken, put together, and moved around. This breeds a lot of opportunity for unsuspecting workers to get an unpleasant surprise from above.

* Equipment/Vehicle Incident. Most jobs involve more than simple hand tools. Complex construction equipment and vehicles provide a constant challenge for workers to both get a job done on time, but to also do it safely. As equipment gets older, the risks tend to increase.

* Exertion Injury. Construction work is often synonymous with manual labor. Any time extreme amounts of physical exertion are in play there is a possibility for injury. Examples often include lifting strain, repetitive stress disorder, tendonitis, and general body wear-and-tear.

* Chemical Incidents. Spills, exposure, and other unpleasant interactions with chemicals are a serious concern for many construction workers. There are often harsh cleansers, lubricants, and other chemicals involved in the overall construction plan of a job, and overexposure is not terribly uncommon.

* Fire/Explosion. Sometimes related to the chemicals cited above, fire and explosion is another reality of the construction site. High pressure equipment and volatile material can cause serious burns or worse to workers how are caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Results of Construction Accidents:

Just as unfortunate as the accident itself is some of the results that occur afterwards. Many people either do not see some of these issues coming, or don’t know how to handle them. Let’s analyze a few examples:

* Extensive medical bills from various injuries occurred on the job.

* Missed shifts and time at work, resulting in loss of wages.

* Reduced ability to perform work at the same level as before injury.

* Usage of personal days / sick days beyond those available.

* Negative pressure from bosses, coworkers, etc to either hide injury or report it in fraudulent ways.

* Shift work from full-time to light duty or reduced responsibilities.

Problems after an injury end to pile up, and it can be extremely difficult handling them, especially from a legal perspective.

Securing Proper Legal Counsel

It is important to get legal counsel so that you aren’t susceptible to the wims of insurance companies and construction firms. Unfortunately, general practice lawyers are rarely equipped to deal with the complexities of the large construction industry. Therefore it is important to locate a skilled construction law specialist.

It’s even better if you can find one in your area to reduce the costs of long distance representation (if it is even an option).

Originally published here.

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Bill Hayes

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