(Jeff Hamilton of the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra is playing the drums on this Diane Krall version of “Let It Snow.” Jeff and I grew up in the same town and we both played in the High School Band. Obviously, Jeff is a far better musician and I’m a big fan of him.)

Okay, enjoy the music! We’ve had snow Thursday of this week and even just a bit today that did not accumulate. So, careful driving or no driving is the smart thing to do here in Alabama when we’ve got snow!

Yesterday, I drove to Tuscaloosa for mediation. The snow covered icy roads had melted during the night in the rain. Before then, I stayed off the roads. The case involved a drunk driver who hit my client at about 90 mph from the rear. My client had just started moving after the stop light turned green. Unfortunately, one passenger was killed in the wreck.

The driver had the minimum amount of insurance, not enough to even pay the hospital bills. Check you insurance policy and raise the amount of coverage that you have. (I cover this in detail in my book. I’ll send you a complimentary copy.) Also make sure that you have uninsured /underinsured coverage. Tragedy can strike in a moment. For your protection and the protection of others you need insurance coverage that will cover the amount of damage that can be caused by a wreck. No one is smiling when someone has died in a wreck and others seriously injured. Being responsible means having adequate insurance coverage. Being responsible also means not driving when there is snow in Alabama. Instead stay home and remember to “Let It Snow.”

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Vestavia Hills passed a local ordinance that makes it illegal to text while you drive.  Our Alabama Legislature did not pass the bill that had been introduced.  While there may be some issues relating to Vestavia’s ordinance, the fact of the matter is that what they are trying to do is protect you and me.  “Our ordinance recognizes the threat to public safety that is posed by electronic messaging,” said Vestavia Hills’ council president, Mary Lee Rice.  We are likely to see other cities also pass similar laws.

I’ve previously written a number of posts about the dangers of cell phone use while driving.  If you want to text,  save a life and stop driving.

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Okay, I hope that I got your attention. Pretty cool video about the white deer, isn’t it? Sometimes in lawsuits, people think something is strange and not true. One of the biggest misconceptions the public has is that you cannot be seriously hurt from a low impact rear end wreck (what people call whiplash). “Strange” but true that between 15 and 40 percent of patients may develop chronic neck pain (lasting more than six months) after having whiplash according to an article in the October 2007 Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. It has been estimated by some researchers that between five and seven percent of those injured become partially or totally disabled from this type of injury.

Most defense attorneys will want to show how little damage was done to your vehicle. Remember that your vehicle was designed to withstand various levels of impact, your neck whipping forward, however, was not protected from the impact.

I saw a client today who had been a passenger in a car that was hit from behind because the driver was text messaging on her cell phone while driving. The pain, headache, and other harms and losses were strange but really true, because before the accident the was not having any pain. She now has had a headache since the accident that has not gone away.

We have the Thanksgiving Holiday coming up and there will be a lot of people on the highways. Be sure you have your seatbelt on and you will be careful, won’t you? Strange but true injuries can quickly happen in the blink of an eye.

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I’ve written about  this before, if there is an injury case that is going to trial, there is insurance!!!   I read about a $3.5 Million verdict in Clanton in a wrongful death case involving a logging truck that did not stop in time.  The deceased driver was stopped waiting to make a turn when he was hit from behind. Someone made a comment about the verdict and wondered if there was insurance.  Take a look at one of the comments after the newspaper article.

No attorney is going to spend the money to hire experts and pursue a case like this if there is not insurance.  At the end of  case after a verdict is made by the jury, it has to be collected.  That is why there must be insurance to pursue a case like this to trial.

Someone also wondered what good the money did the family.  First, they have lost a major bread winner.  How will they pay for their home?  How will they have the things the children will need?  Most families today cannot do it on just one income.  There is also a recognition factor that an important life has been lost which a family needs to have recognized.  While there is not enough money in the world to make up for the loss of a life, it would be a terrible slap in the face if the value of that life were minimalized.  So at a deep emotional level a significant verdict says to a family that the jury recognized the person killed was a significant person, not a disposable item.

The is another aspect you should not forget. Experts in the case testified that the truck was traveling between 65-70 miles per hour on a road where the speed limit is 50 miles per hour. If a fair verdict is not returned by a jury, then your family, the jury’s family and mine are at risk on the highway.  A fair verdict makes sure it does not happen again.  Remember, the purpose of a wrongful death action in Alabama is to prevent it occurring again.  That’s why its a punitive damages statute where you cannot recover the lost earnings of the victim or return a verdict on what a good person he was.  The sad reality is that in that case a family’s husband and father was killed by a speeding logging truck.  This was a death that could have been prevented.  Punitive damages when awarded properly as was done in this case can protect you and your family from being the next victim of irresponsible drivers.

I cover wrongful death cases in my book.

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Rick Ebbinghouse helps people put their lives back together whose loved ones have been killed and also people who have been injured. This includes automobile accidents and wrongful death lawsuits in Birmingham and throughout Alabama.   He wrote the “Seven Deadly Sins That Can Wreck Your Alabama Injury Claim“  which he is giving away to help you avoid making costly mistakes.  Click here to order.

“Seven Deadly Sins That Can Wreck Your Alabama Injury Claim”

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There is a common injury that you may not know about that occurs in car or vehicle accidents. It’s a pulmonary contusion which is a bruising of the lung. This occurs most often when the chest strikes the inside of the car. About 70% of pulmonary contusions cases are from motor vehicle collisions or accidents.

When you have a pulmonary contusion, you bleed internally in your lung, the tissue was torn by the blunt force trauma. Torn capillaries leak fluid into the tissues around them. That means that the blood gas exchange that normally occurs in your lungs when you breathe is impaired. Pulmonary contusion is characterized by tiny bleeds. Blood collects in the space which has been separated by your airway structure and then swelling occurs. An area of bleeding is commonly surrounded by swelling (called edema). The larger the area of the injury, the more severe the injury and your ability to breathe.

Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome can occur by an airbag causing pulmonary a contusion in a person who is not properly positioned when it deploys. Caudle JM, Hawkes R, Howes DW, Brison RJ (November 2007). “Airbag pneumonitis: A report and discussion of a new clinical entity”. CJEM 9 (6): 470–473. PMID 18072996. Of course, when you are in an accident there is not time to position yourself before the airbag deploys.

Many people are aware that airbags save lives. However, most people don’t know that they can have an injury that was caused by the airbag. So, if you are having trouble breathing after an accident, don’t hesitate to get medical care. You may be alive, but still injured after a wreck even if you aren’t bleeding on the outside or don’t have broken bones. It’s not uncommon for people to have breathing difficulties caused by an accident.  It’s a serious injury that should have immediate medical care.

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Questions? See my Frequently Asked Questions page. You can also Order FREE my book,

“Seven Deadly Sins That Can Wreck Your Alabama Injury Claim” for more in depth information.

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Monday’s Birmingham News had an article on page 2B about a man killed in Phoenix City in an accident after he reached down to pick up his fallen cell phone. He was 28 years old. His step-father was taken to the hospital for treatment.

I’ve written about the dangers of cell phones and how inattention can have tragic results. Inattention to what you are doing and not doing – distraction – can be fatal to you or someone involved in an accident caused by cell phone use. Humans actually cause death by their inattention when using a cell phone. Be careful!

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You’ve probably heard that cell phone are dangerous when someone is driving. Distractions of any kind when driving are dangerous. Don’t even think about texting when driving!

“Death by Cell Phone” is the title of a new billboard advertisement the National Safety Council launched. A wrongful death case I had not that long ago was where the other driver was talking on their cell phone. They pulled right out in front of a man who was on a motorcyle. He was not going fast, he simply didn’t have time to avoid the wreck. He died because someone was on their cell phone.

Cell phones contributed to 6 percent of all crashes. Alabama is one of 24 states without any kind of restrictions on cell phone use while driving. In an article in the Times Daily, Meredith Morris, a spokeswoman for the National Safety Council. said that a recent study from Harvard Center of Risk Analysis which estimated the 6 percent of all crashes figure said, “Which equates to 636,000 crashes, 330,000 injuries, 12,000 serious injuries and 2,600 deaths each year.” Cell phones put drivers at four times greater risk of a crash.

I know that people will continue to use their cell phones and drive. However, use common sense. Don’t text, stop talking, and look both ways before you enter the highway. Anything that may distract you or the other driver is dangerous and can lead to an accident.

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Questions? See my Frequently Asked Questions page. You can also Order FREE my book,

“Seven Deadly Sins That Can Wreck Your Alabama Injury Claim” for more in depth information.

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Most people this time of the year take a vacation. One thing that many people don’t know about is the Alabama Guest Statute. I covered it in my book, Seven Deadly Sins That Can Wreck Your Alabama Injury Claim which you can receive FREE!

So, what is it? The statue reads:

The owner, operator or person responsible for the operation of a motor vehicle shall not be liable for loss or damage arising from injuries to or death of a guest while being transported without payment therefor in or upon said motor vehicle, resulting from the operation thereof, unless such injuries or death are caused by the willful or wanton misconduct of such operator, owner or person responsible for the operation of said motor vehicle.

Section 32-1-2, Ala. Code 1975.

That means that if someone is riding as the guest of a driver and is not paying to be transported, then the driver is not responsible for ordinary bad driving, even if the accident is their fault. However, if the accident was due to willful or wanton misconduct, then the driver can be held responsible for their actions. What constitutes willful or wanton misconduct depends on the facts of the case. I give some examples in my book.   If you want more details on  how this statute is applied, I would be glad to send you a free copy of my book .  Just know that if you have this situation, you should consult an attorney.

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Questions? See my Frequently Asked Questions page. You can also Order FREE my book,

“Seven Deadly Sins That Can Wreck Your Alabama Injury Claim” for more in depth information.

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Many times people want to wait too long before hiring an attorney. Evidence can quickly disappear! Many times one of the first things an attorney does when they are representing someone is to preserve the evidence. When there is an accident or wreck, the accident scene can quickly change or be altered. Changes in the weather, clean up or repair crews can destroy evidence. One case within the past year or so was one where a person was killed in the crash. It was the spouse of a former client. I hated to get the call that he had been killed. I personally had known him for a number of years. However, I had to do everything I could for her and for him (to take care of her and the children) so that the evidence was preserved. Pictures were taken before any grass, or tress grew that might change how the accident scene looked. We had the vehicle preserved. There was going to be a question of if there was a defect in it as a possible defense to his death. If the crash had been caused by a defect, we would have preserved the vehicle in the condition that it was so that a defect could be proven. In short order our accident reconstruction expert was there. Why, I didn’t want anyone saying something had changed so that he really didn’t know the actual conditions and his opinon was not valid. He confirmed the accident was not the spouse’s fault. We also quickly found witnesses who were not listed on the police report. There were people in that neighborhood who had seen what had occurred right before the accident. They did not know anyone who was in the wreck. They were not taking anyone’s side, just telling exactly what they saw. You don’t want someone who has not handled a serious injury case getting experience on your case. They need to know what they are doing and have the financial resources to get the investigation done quickly and professionally. Otherwise, important evidence can quickly disappear. Many times people don’t need a lawyer to resolve their claim. That’s normally when there is not a serious injury or death. Don’t make the mistake of not acting quickly when there has been a serious accident. Important evidence could be disappearing while you do not act!
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Questions? See my Frequently Asked Questions page. You can also Order FREE my book,

“Seven Deadly Sins That Can Wreck Your Alabama Injury Claim” for more in depth information.
 

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I’ve written before about teenagers are at a high risk of being in an accident and seriously injured. Climbing into the back of a truck or jeep in the cargo area and riding without a seatbelt is extremely dangerous. (The last case I worked on over thirty years ago as a law clerk was a paraplegic case where the rider in the back of a truck was thrown out of the truck during an accident. The wreck was due to a defect in the truck. The client was paralyzed from the waist down. Don’t ride in the back of a truckbed, jeep, or any vehicle where there is not a seatbelt!)

So, how do you talk to your children in a way that helps them use seatbelts instead of forgetting about them when they ride with friends?  An excuse you are likely to hear from them if you catch them getting into a vehicle like the back of a jeep or not putting on a seatbelt is that they were just going to go a short distance.  Taking a concept from Dave Frees’s book, The Language of Parenting: Building Great Family Relationships at all Ages, is to state things in a positive manner as opposed to stating it in a negative manner.  The idea is that if you tell your teenager not to think of the color blue, they (and you) cannot help but think of the color blue.  So, you might say to them, “To keep safe, put on your seatbelt” or “Can you imagine feeling good by the keeping yourself safe when you always put on your seatbelt?  Dave goes into detail on this in his book in Chapter 9.

No one should have to see the death or serious injury of a child, spouse or loved one. There is action you can take. Can you imagine how good you will feel stating things in a positive way so that your family members respond and are safe? Doing that shows your love for them, doesn’t it?

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Questions? See my Frequently Asked Questions page. You can also Order FREE my book,

“Seven Deadly Sins That Can Wreck Your Alabama Injury Claim” for more in depth information.

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