Steps To Take After a Truck Accident

Truck Accidents: Steps to Take after a Crash

Large trucks and tractor-trailers are huge vehicles, weighing up to 80,000 pounds. Since the average passenger vehicle weighs in at around 5,000, they’re simply no match for these enormous machines. Last year, of the 97,000 people injured in a multi-vehicle accident involving a large truck, 17,000 injured persons were in the large truck, and 80,000 were in the other vehicle. If you find yourself involved in a truck accident, take the following steps to give your claim the strongest possible chance for success.

Get medical help

Before anything else, ensure that you and your passengers’ medical needs are cared for. Even if you are not seriously injured, see a doctor right away for a checkup. You may have injuries you didn’t know you had. Additionally, injuries can persist or become more severe, and a doctor’s records of their presence immediately after a crash can help you recover your costs of treatment later.

Take Photos

Take as many pictures as you can from the scene of the crash, showing the position of the vehicles, and any debris thrown from the crash site. These photos can help an accident reconstruction expert show an insurer or court what happened in the crash, and any errors that the drivers made.

Talk to Witnesses

Be sure to get the name and contact info of anyone who might have seen the crash and could support your account in a deposition or in court.

Make sure there’s a police report

A police report will provide an objective account of what happened in the crash and may be required by your insurance carrier when you make a claim.

Don’t sign any statements

Truck insurers can be aggressive in attempting to get victims to back down or take less than they deserve. They might appear at the accident site and try to coerce you into making a statement before your shock has subsided or you’re even sure what’s going on. Don’t make any statements about what happened, and do NOT admit fault before you’ve had a chance to speak to a lawyer.

Talk to an attorney experienced in truck accident claims

Truck accident claims are complex. There are almost always multiple defendants involved, making litigation more challenging. Hundreds of federal and state rules apply to long-haul commercial truck driving, including ones that govern how long a driver can spend behind the wheel in a day and how a truck must be loaded. Violation of these laws can have an impact on your claim for damages, making it important to find an attorney who understands these laws and will use them in support of your claim.

If you’ve been hurt in an accident with a semi-truck, 18-wheeler, or other large truck in Alabama, seek knowledgeable and compassionate legal help in making your claim for personal injury damages by contacting the Montgomery truck accident lawyers at McPhillips Shinbaum for a consultation, at 334-262-1911.

Collisions in Parking Garages and Lots

Collisions in Parking Garages and Lots

It isn’t hard to see why parking lots and parking garages are frequently the site of car accidents—each driver is distracted by either trying to pull out of a spot, trying to find a spot, or by the pedestrians walking in every direction. Additionally, some drivers might not even be sure of who has the right-of-way. Even when occurring at low speed, a parking lot accident can still cost a substantial amount in repairs or cause a serious back, neck or other injury. Read on to learn what you need to know after you’re in an accident in a parking lot.

Who has the right of way in parking lots?

Determining who was at fault in an accident often comes down to who had the right-of-way in a given scenario. Parking lots are generally split between drivers on the thoroughfares (the wider lanes which lead to the street), and drivers in feeder lanes (smaller lanes which start and end with thoroughfares) or backing out of spots. The drivers on the thoroughfares are the ones with the right-of-way.

Take pictures of the crash

In order to prove who had the right-of-way when the crash occurred, it can help to take photos of the accident exactly as it happened. If you are in a portion of the parking lot where there is not a great deal of traffic, it may be safe to take photos before moving your cars, but if not, pull off to the side. Speak with anyone walking nearby who may have seen the accident and could describe what happened.

Security camera footage can help

If someone hit your car while you weren’t near your vehicle and did not leave a note, they’ve not only done something highly rude, they’ve committed a violation of the Alabama Code on motor vehicle accidents. If the driver left the scene of the accident before identifying themselves, or if you and the other driver disagree about what happened in a crash, speak with the facility’s security offices right away about whether a security camera may have captured the incident, allowing you a way to determine what happened in the crash. You should also have the security officers make a report of the accident to present to your insurer, as police are less likely to make a report of an incident which occurred on private property monitored by its own security personnel.

If you’ve experienced a personal injury or property damage in an Alabama car accident, ensure that you receive all compensation to which you’re entitled by contacting the knowledgeable and trial-ready Montgomery personal injury attorneys at McPhillips Shinbaum for a consultation on your case, at 334-262-1911.

McPhillips Releases Book on Life and Career

Firm Attorney Releases Book about Life and Career

Julian L McPhillips, partner at the McPhillips Shinbaum law firm, has recently had a book published by New South, Inc. The book is entitled “Civil Rights in My Bones: More Colorful Stories from a Lawyer’s Life and Work 2005-2015.” This memoir covers the most recent phase in Mr. McPhillips’ life and career as an advocate for consumer rights, the rights of the criminally accused, and other social and civil rights matters. Included are details of some of the major cases Mr. McPhillips has handled in the past decade for the firm in employment law and other areas, as well as some fascinating developments in Mr. McPhillips’ personal life. The book follows up on “The People’s Lawyer: The Colorful Life and Times of Julian L. McPhillips, Jr.,” also published by New South Books, which covers the earlier period of Mr. McPhillips’ life and career.

Those interested in learning more or possibly purchasing the book can follow this link to the book description at the New South Books website. The book is also available as an eBook for Kindle, Nook or iPad.

Snapchat Blamed For Catastrophic Accident

Accident Resulting in Severe Brain Injuries Blamed on Snapchat

The developers of the social media app Snapchat are being sued for one man’s injuries in a serious car accident. The victim, Wentworth Maynard, claims that the app’s unreasonably dangerous speed filter drew the at-fault driver’s attention away from the road, resulting in the crash.

Christal McGee, then 18, was out driving her Mercedes with three friends on the night of September 10, 2015. Maynard’s lawsuit claims that McGee was using Snapchat’s speed filter to take photos while driving; the filter measures the user’s speed at the time the photo is taken, and Maynard asserts McGee was trying to get it as high as it would go. At around 11:15 pm, as Maynard attempted to enter the highway on which McGee was driving, McGee slammed into the driver’s side of Maynard’s vehicle, sending the car spinning into the center embankment. According to a reconstruction of the accident performed by Maynard’s expert, McGee was traveling at 107 mph at the time of the crash. McGee did not receive a citation on the night of the accident, but after a selfie that McGee took using Snapchat while still strapped to a gurney captioned “Lucky to be alive” was released to the media, local police opened an investigation into the accident.

Maynard was transported to the intensive care unit, where he would proceed to spend the next five weeks. His attorneys report that he lost 50 pounds, has suffered permanent brain damage as a result of the accident, cannot move around without the assistance of a wheelchair or walker, and has been unable to return to work. He is suing both McGee and the makers of Snapchat for money damages to compensate him for his expenses related to these injuries. Maynard claims that past accidents which resulted from drivers’ use of the speed filter, as well as calls from online petitions and safety experts to disable the speed filter, made Snapchat aware of the dangers of the filter. He claims that Snapchat’s failure to disable the speed filter constituted negligence which makes them liable for injuries resulting from use of the filter. Snapchat has stated that they have provided sufficient warning to their customers, both in the app’s terms of use and when turning on the speed filter, that users should not “snap and drive,” and that this warning is sufficient to relieve them of any liability for accidents resulting from use of the filter.

If you or someone you love has been hurt by a distracted driver in Alabama, seek help from an experienced car accident attorney to ensure you’re fully compensated for your injuries by contacting the Montgomery personal injury attorneys at McPhillips Shinbaum for a consultation, at 334-262-1911.

Makers Commit to Adding Automated Braking

Automakers Commit to Adding Automated Braking to All New Cars

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has recently announced that 20 automakers, which supply 99% of the new vehicles available on the American market, have agreed to make Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) systems a standard feature on all new vehicles. The manufacturers anticipate that all new vehicles should come with the safety feature by September of 2022. Safety organizations are enthusiastic about the vast number of crashes and injuries the change is expected to prevent.

According to the NHTSA, approximately a third of all police-reported accidents involve a rear-end collision. AEB systems work to prevent these types of crashes and, according to research, are excellent at doing so. The systems work by using cameras, radar, and lasers to inspect the roadway for objects or slowing traffic. When the system identifies a hazard in the road ahead, it will issue a warning to the driver that some sort of evasive maneuver must be taken to avoid a crash. If the driver fails to change course or take sufficient action, the AEB system intervenes. Crash-Imminent Braking systems will automatically apply the car’s brakes when the driver fails to do so whatsoever, whereas Dynamic Brake Support systems will increase the amount of braking power being applied by the driver when that amount is insufficient to avoid a crash. Front-crash warning (FCW) systems, a related but less-advanced safety feature, will also scan the road and warn of an imminent collision, but they have no ability to apply the car’s brakes.

According to research comparing cars with FCW and AEB systems to those without such systems, the additional safety features make a great difference in the likelihood of a serious crash occurring. According to studies conducted by the IIHS, cars equipped with only FCW systems are 23% less likely to get into a crash than those without that feature. AEB systems are found to prevent even more harm, making cars 39% less likely to be involved in a police-reported crash, and 43% less likely to be involved in an injury accident.

Cars may have more and more automated features, but if and when those features fail, the driver remains the responsible party for any accidents. Experts caution that even the most advanced crash-prevention systems can miss upcoming crashes or simply malfunction, and that drivers should remain attentive and engaged while driving to prevent injuries.

For skilled and determined legal assistance with claims for damages after an Alabama car accident, contact the Montgomery personal injury attorneys at McPhillips Shinbaum for a free consultation on your case, at 334-262-1911.

Short haired witness

What is an Expert Witness, and How Can One Help My Car Accident Lawsuit?

Most car accident claims are resolved with a settlement before they reach the point of going to trial. However, some claims become more hotly-contested, requiring an injured plaintiff to present all evidence available that supports a claim for damages. While it is valuable to provide eyewitness testimony from the injured victim and others who saw the crash, a claim can also be bolstered with testimony from expert witnesses.

Expert witnesses are individuals who have established themselves as authorities in a certain field relevant to a claim for damages, and can provide a more objective, evidence-based perspective on how and why an accident occurred, or interpreting certain evidence for a judge and jury. Some experts you might see testifying in a car accident lawsuit include:

Accident Reconstruction Experts

Reconstruction experts can use physical evidence and photos from the scene of an accident to create visual models of the accident itself, as well as offer an opinion on who was at fault. Reconstruction experts can also testify about how evidence such as skid marks — or a lack thereof – show that the at-fault driver was distracted, inebriated, or asleep at the time of the crash.

Economic Expert

For those unexperienced with the true costs associated with serious car accident injuries or long-term medical care, the damages a victim requests in a personal injury accident can seem extravagant and unnecessary. An economic expert can put those numbers in perspective and offer data explaining the source of those costs, so that a jury can understand the basis for a request for damages. Economic experts can provide an estimate of the costs of rehabilitation for your particular injuries, the cost of your lost earning capacity, or the cost of in-home care.

Medical Expert

Medical experts provide necessary interpretation of your medical records and injuries to the jury, including how the accident in question resulted in the injuries you incurred. These experts can also provide a prognosis for recovery and testify to the extent of future treatments that the injuries will require.

If you or someone you love has been injured in an automobile accident, contact the skilled and compassionate attorneys of McPhillips Shinbaum for a free consultation, at 334-262-1911. Thank you.

Guy on cell phone

Distractions Draw Drivers’ Attention Away from the Road Even Longer than You Think

Safe, responsible drivers have largely moved away from texting or emailing while driving, and have adopted hands-free technologies, either via voice-recognition software coming installed in phones, or via increasingly-common in-vehicle entertainment systems. One team of researchers looked at the effect that the use of these systems had on drivers’ focus on the road, and found that use of voice commands may not always be as safe as we’d hoped.

A team composed of experts from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and researchers from the University of Utah compared ten in-vehicle entertainment systems in 2015 models of popular vehicles to determine whether there was a measurable difference in the impact those systems had on the attention of the driver. First, the researchers established a 1-5 scale of distraction, monitoring the impact that completion of certain activities had on the drivers’ focus to compare to using the in-vehicle systems. Driving while entirely focused on the road scored a 1 on the scale; driving while listening to the radio, a 1.2; and driving while memorizing a list of words and solving a math problem, a 5. The team found that, among the ten systems tested, the most distracting was that installed in the Mazda 6, which earned a score of 4.6. The least problematic system was that in the Chevy Equinox, earning a relatively-modest 2.6 on the scale.

Even when using the least distracting of the in-vehicle entertainment systems, the impact on driver attention was substantial. On average, after entering a command into a voice-activated system, the driver remained unfocused on the road for 27 seconds, and even the least-distracting system required an average of 15 seconds of readjustment for the driver after use. Traveling at 25 mph, a driver could cover a length of road equivalent to three football fields in that time, or get in a serious car accident. David Strayer, one of the University of Utah researchers, explained, “The lasting effects of mental distraction pose a hidden and pervasive danger that would likely come as a surprise to most drivers. The results indicate that motorists could miss stop signs, pedestrians, and other vehicles while the mind is readjusting to the task of driving.”

If you or a loved one have been injured in an Alabama car accident by a distracted driver, contact Montgomery’s skilled personal injury law firm McPhillips Shinbaum, LLP for a consultation on your claims, at 334-262-1911.

Electronic Logs Now Required By Law

Federal Regulations Now Require Electronic Logs in Commercial Vehicles

A change in the federal rules governing commercial drivers of trucks and buses will require that drivers use electronic, rather than paper, logs to track their hours worked and miles driven, and a recent Greyhound Bus crash highlights the reason this change is long overdue.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is the governmental body which oversees commercial truck and bus drivers. The FMCSA has had a rule since 1938 requiring that commercial drivers track the number of hours worked and miles driven each day, and since 1938, drivers have been required only to create a paper record of these hours worked. These records are an important way to ensure that drivers comply with the FMCSA’s hours of service rules, mandating that drivers limit the number of hours they spend behind the wheel to 11 during any given 24-hour period. These rules are designed to keep fatigued drivers from getting behind the wheel of large and potentially dangerous vehicles, which could cause a massive amount of destruction if the driver should fall asleep or drive under the influence of unsafe stimulants.

Despite massive advances in technology and the availability of electronic means of tracking miles driven by commercial drivers, FMCSA regulations still permitted the use of paper logs. However, drivers under pressure to meet high mileage demands from carrier companies could easily falsify paper logs, and were often under pressure to do so, until now. The electronic log rule, which goes into effect in February of 2016, will require commercial drivers to use a means of tracking hours worked and miles driven which connects directly to the truck’s on-board computer, so that the log can begin to track this information as soon as a driver begins working. Electronic logging devices will also be required to note the driver’s GPS location for additional verifiability of the log’s entries, as well as the driver’s speed, and the length and timing of breaks taken throughout the day.

A bus accident which occurred earlier this month is a tragic example of why accurate driving logs are important. A Greyhound Bus which left Los Angeles at 11:30 pm crashed after driving north through the night, killing two passengers and injuring 13. The driver had complained of fatigue, and had drunk a cup of coffee at an earlier stop, though he claims not to have been asleep when the crash occurred. Passengers witnessed the driver nodding off and weaving somewhat between lanes prior to the stop. Larry Hanley, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, described the state of fatigue among bus drivers as being “at a crisis level,” with most bus drivers feeling compelled to lie in driver logs about how much rest they had received between shifts. Hopefully, an additional hurdle to falsifying driver logs will result in greater safety for bus passengers and other drivers alike.

If you have been injured in a truck or bus accident in Alabama, contact the personal injury of McPhillips Shinbaum, LLP at 334-262-1911.

Rear Car Facing Car Seats and Head Trauma

Rear-Facing Car Seats Linked to Head Trauma Among Infants

If you’re a parent, you know how difficult it can be to find the safest, most effective car seat for your infant child, to ensure that they’re fully protected in the event of a crash. However, sometimes even the best option available still contains flaws and shortcomings. A recent study has found that rear-facing car seats for infants are linked to head trauma in the event of rear-end crashes.

The study in question was published in the Journal of Traffic Injury Prevention and was conducted by a group of biomechanical safety experts who provide expert testimony in lawsuits. The study looked at what would happen to 6-month-old infants in rear-facing car seats which were restrained in the vehicle using either the car’s built-in seatbelts or the lower-positioned “LATCH” anchors when those cars were struck from the rear. The researchers found that infants in these seats tended to be pitched forward in their seats, throwing their heads against the seat back facing them. The experts described being surprised at the degree to which the infants tended to be injured in these accidents. Additionally, injuries were found to be greater where the “LATCH” anchors, rather than the car’s seatbelts, were used to tie down the seat.

Despite these findings, the experts involved in the study caution that parents should continue to put their infant children in rear-facing car seats. Research shows that infants and young toddlers are five times safer when in rear-facing seats, as these seats provide the head, neck, and spinal support that young children need. Additionally, while these rear-facing seats can result in injury when a car is rear-ended, there is a much greater risk of serious injury for a child in a front-facing seat when the car is involved in a head-on collision, or is hit from the side than there is for a child in a rear-facing seat in a rear-end crash. Instead of changing the type of seat used, the experts involved in the aforementioned study recommended instead that these seats include additional safety features, such as a tether that runs from the car’s floor to the top of the seat, which would keep the seat from flinging forward when struck from the rear.

If you or your child have been hurt in an Alabama car accident and need legal help to fully recover all compensation you’re owed for your injuries, contact the experienced Montgomery personal injury law firm McPhillips Shinbaum LLP, at 334-262-1911.

Your Car's Black Box and Ways It Can Help

Your Car’s Black Box, and Ways It Can Help In an Accident

Black boxes in airplanes, known formally as event data recorders, often prove invaluable in helping investigators determine what events led up to a plane crashing. What you may not have realized is that event data recorders aren’t only installed in airplanes—there’s a very good chance that one is installed in the car you drive every day, and that it could offer useful information to you and your attorneys in the event of an accident.

Event data recorders were introduced along with the first-ever airbags installed in vehicles in the 1970s. The devices would record whether or not an airbag functioned properly in the event of a crash. Manufacturers began using the devices to record additional mechanical information as well, by installing sensors throughout the vehicle to measure items such as engine efficiency, brake functioning, and seat belt usage. The devices are now installed in almost 100% of new cars. As soon as the ignition is started, the recorder begins to run, measuring and recording over data every five seconds. If the recorder senses that an airbag is deployed or nearly deployed, the recorder will permanently retain the data from five seconds before that impact, as well as the moments afterward. Event data recorders are required to measure at least 15 different forms of data by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, including brake usage and function, speed and acceleration, seat belt use, airbag deployment, and whether additional collisions occurred after the collision triggering the recording.

Information from event data recorders can provide a great deal of valuable information showing responsibility for a crash, or even criminal conduct. You may remember an incident in 2011 when an accident involving a member of the Massachusetts state government made national news. While then-lieutenant governor Timothy Murray claimed that, prior to the accident totaling his state-issued vehicle, he was traveling the speed limit and wearing his seat belt, evidence from the car’s event data recorder showed that Murray was driving 100 mph and not wearing a seatbelt. Similarly, your attorney can use information from an event data recorder to show that the other driver in a crash was driving over the speed limit when the accident occurred, or that the driver did not apply their brakes before hitting you, indicating that they may have been distracted, intoxicated, or asleep.

If you have been in a car accident and need a knowledgeable, experienced Alabama attorney to handle your claims, contact Montgomery personal injury law firm McPhillips Shinbaum for a free consultation, at 866-224-8664.