DRUNK DRIVERS INJURE

Drunk Driving

I once had a comment on my blog from an active member of Mothers against drunk driving. MADD

She scolded me a bit for using the word accident to describe a crash involving a drunk driver that hit and injured my client. She went on to say that when someone drinks and then chooses to drive that everything that happens after that is intentional not an "accident."

I certainly sympathize with that point. My mother was almost killed by a drunk driver when I was just a child. In addition to the recklessness of driving drunk he also was cowardly and uncaring in that he and his buddies left my mother lying unconscious on the pavement and ran for their lives.

I also know that drunk driving tends to be a repeat offense type problem and thus how we characterize the offender has a lot to do with how I might feel about it.

Not to defend anybody but I think it feels different if we are talking about a person who is a well-educated person at a dinner party who has three or four glasses of wine over the course of an evening and hits a car at night with no brake lights on.

However, if I tell you that a man was driving recklessly through a school zone and hits children drunk at 2:30 on a Thursday afternoon and this was his fourth offense DUI it changes things.

Both are wrong. It is never okay to drink and then drive. And it makes sense. If you're in an airplane you don't want your pilot to have been drinking at all. Well, we are all on the road and we don't want anyone around us to have been drinking at all either. Cars kill more than planes ever will.

Unfortunately, many of my clients are hurt by drunk drivers. The drunk drivers tend to be very loose and most never are injured.  I also realize now that there is even a group called FADD or fathers against drunk driving.

The statistics on these issues are shocking:
Alcohol related crashes are the leading cause of death for young Americans, between the ages of 16 and 24 years old. For all Americans between 5 and 35 years of age, motor vehicle accidents are the number one cause of death. Alcohol-impaired drivers cause over 50% of these accidents.
Over 50% of all fatal highway crashes involving two or more cars are alcohol related. 
 Over 65% of all fatal single car crashes are alcohol related. 
Over 36% percent of all adult pedestrian accidents are alcohol related. 
80% of all fatal alcohol related auto crashes occur between 8 pm and 8 am. 
36% of all adult pedestrian accidents involve an intoxicated pedestrian. 

Every year, 708,000 persons are injured in alcohol related crashes; 74, 000 of those people suffer serious injuries. 

About 2,000 people are hurt each day in alcohol related accidents. Two million alcohol impaired driving collisions occur each year.
So when were watching the games, and we see you guys all clinging bottles of beer together and say "it doesn't get any better than this".  Just remember, the beer commercials never show those guys driving home. For that matter, alcohol commercials never show the winos in the gutter, the abused wives and children, the suicides, the fights, the vomit-coated jail cells, the liver transplant list, and the broken-hearted children who carry the scars of being raised an alcoholic home to future generations.
So for the safety of all of us on the road, if you must drink, get someone else to drive or stay home.

Mr. Peel seeks justice for those injured in car accidents, work place incidents, medical malpractice, and nursing homes. He often addresses churches, clubs and groups without charge. Mr. Peel may be reached through PeelLawFirm.com wherein other articles may be accessed.

SUE-HAPPY

Not A Sue-Happy Person?

Lately I have been hearing this term more often, “sue-happy.”  As an injury lawyer, I am often contacted by potential clients that are very concerned about making any claims, because they don’t want to appear to be that type of person. I fully understand that.

Here is the funny thing…if you are worried about appearing as that “type” of person, you probably are not that type of person.  The folks that are looking for a lawsuit on every corner could not care less what is thought of them. 

Sue-happy people bring frivolous lawsuits. Examples of this include a man who sued a dry cleaners for millions when they lost a pair of pants. Ridiculous. I wish I had been able to be the judge at that moment. He would have never forgotten it.

It is cases like that bring disrepute on lawyers, the justice system and victims with legitimate, compensable injuries. 

Seldom do we hear about the cases that are settled. This is sometimes because we have to sign confidentiality clauses that prevent their discussion. Often, it is because they are quietly settled, without a suit even being filed.

Other traits bring disrepute on the legal system too. Obnoxious television ads by lawyers are constant. Unethical medical or chiropractor clinics calling injured people the day after a wreck.

The other day, a client came in having nine calls or messages on her phone after a wreck!

A real case, that is not frivolous, demands justice. Often times, this can be settled quietly without going to court. But is trial is necessary, honest victims should not have to apologize for simple making a claim that the insurance company often undervalues.

Many cases in my office have medical bills of $50,000 – $500,000, in addition to lost wages and disability, not to mention what they have been through. These claims, by people who hire me, are not brought by sue-happy people. Many times, they feel awful having to even make a claim.

It is a good reminder that our tort law derives from the Bible, and that there are right ways to go about it.

Liability Insurance Ends Punkin Chunkin

NO PUNKIN’ CHUNKIN’

Since 1986, bored rednecks in Delaware have been tinkering with giant medieval trebuchet devices, catapults, giant slingshots, and even custom-built air cannons with enormously long barrels all to launch pumpkins staggering distances. 

The basic idea of this concept is to launch a pumpkin as high and far as possible. Then, trusted folks on ATVs ride out to measure the distance. Crowds often hit 20,000 in number. These events continued to grow in both the size of the crowds and the power of the machines, as the events were even featured on Myth-Busters and other programs.

But last year they cancelled the event. This year was cancelled, too. Why? The lack of a company willing to write the liability insurance policy ended the raining of pumpkins.

It seems that there was just one lawsuit regarding a serious ATV accident, and that was settled. However, liability insurance for this event had to be a stretch. As fun as “punkin chunkin’” sounds, and it seems like it would be great, insurance companies are not necessary in favor of too much “fun” if that fun will likely lead to injuries and lawsuits.

Liability insurance companies will tell you that numerous and serious claims involving death and serious injuries come from activities involving large, powerful machines, drunkenness, the presence of children and the use of motor vehicles.

Let’s analyze what they may be considering here:

·      Rednecks on ATVs in uneven fields? Check.

·      Large, powerful machines that swing counterweights that can kill? Check.

·      Giant, pressurized air cannons that can explode? Check.

·      Heavy pumpkins falling unpredictably from high in the sky? Check.

·      Is there a better than even chance that many of the yahoos involved in these admittedly fun activities are drinking or even totally drunk? Check.

It is rare for me to come down on the side of insurance companies since I feel like I sue at least one almost every week of my life, but I kind of see their point here. It is reinforced by the names and categories of record holders they list:

Adult Air Category:   American Chunker, Inc.       4694.68 ft.    

Okay, that is almost a mile! This Navy-sized pressured-air-gun shot a pumpkin almost a mile! But, notice that is only one category. In the “Adult Catapult” competition, the “Fibonacci Unlimited II” launched its gourd some 2862.28 ft., or about half a mile. Not to be out done, the “Adult Centrifugal” entry  “Bad to the Bone” hit 3245.58 ft.

Did you notice that there were “Adult” categories? So, yes, not only are children present, they actively compete. These future engineers enter youth categories that even include a “10 and under” class. Even the names they selected sound ominous: “Jersey Devil,” “The Plague,” “Stomach Virus,” and “Colossal Thunder.” (I will the “Snot Rocket” an honorable mention, as well).

So, insurance companies, who watch that profit margin very carefully, have effectively ended the reign--and the rain—of the pumpkins.

LAWYER'S RESEARCH STUMBLES ONTO LITTLE KNOWN NAME ORGINS

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

As an injury lawyer, legal research is common. However, even many non-legal issues, like genealogy (family trees and origins), fascinate me. The origin of how many of us got our last names is quite interesting. Many American names descended to us from ancestors in the “Old World” of Europe. Even in the Bible one can see the need for them:  Saul, “of Tarsus;” Mary “Magdalene” (from Magdala); James and John, “Sons of Zebedee;” and Matthew, “The Tax Collector.”
The Norman conquest of England in 1066 brought last names into more common usage throughout Europe. There are several sources of names. See if you know someone with each type:

“TOPONYMIC:” BASED ON PLACES OR FEATURES:
A last name often derived from where a person was from, lived or where he owned land.
Ackerman (from “acre”), Atwood (“at the wood”), Banks, Beaumont (French for “beautiful hill”), Beck or Brooks (“stream”), Bolton (“house settlement”), Bridges, Bush, Camp, Douglas (“dark river”), Dunlap/Dunlop (a muddy hill), Fields, Ford (“river crossing”), Forest, Garfield (“triangle field”), Glenwood, Gordon (“spacious fort”), Greenwood, Grove, Hamilton (“crooked hill”), Hartford, Hill, Knolls, Lake, Lane, Lee (“clearing”), Milton, (“mill town”), Moore (from moor “open area”), Norton (“north town”), Perry (“where pears grow”), Ramsey (“garlic island”), Riley (“rye-clearing”), Stone, Stroud (“overgrown thicket”), Timberlake, Underhill, Whitfield and Wood.

OCCUPATIONAL:
Many last names are obviously from jobs like a Smith, but some might surprise you:
Archer, Baker, Barker (“tanner”), Bailey (“porter”), Brewer, Butcher, Carpenter or Joiner (“wood-worker”), Carter (“transport cart”), Carver, Conner (“inspector”), Cooper (“barrel maker”), Cook, Dexter or Dye (“cloth dyer”), Farmer, Faulkner or Fowler (“falconer”), Ferrari (“metal worker”), Fisher, Fletcher (“arrow maker”), Foster (“forester”), Gardener, Glover, Hunter, Judge, Knight, Leach (“doctor”- often used leaches), Mason, Miller, Page, Parker (“park keeper”), Potter, Reeves (“sheriff”), Sawyer (“wood-cutter”), Shoemaker, Smith, Stewart or Ward (“guard”), Tanner or Gerber (“tans hides”), Taylor or Snider (“tailor”), Thatcher, Tucker (“folds clothes”), Turner (“turned wooden legs with a lathe”), Tyler (“tiled floors”), Weaver or Webb (“weaver”), and Wright or Wainwright (“wagon wheel maker”).

ANCESTORS AND NICKNAMES:
Adamson, Davidson (“the son of David”), Dawson, Dickson, Evans, Fitzgerald (“Fitz” is “of”) Harris, Harrison, Henderson, Hobson, Jackson, Jones (Welsh for John), Madison, MacDonald, Marriott (“from Mary”), Nicholson, O’Malley (“O’” is “of”), Richardson, Robinson, Rogers, Simpson, Stephenson, Thompson, Watson, Williamson and Wilson. Nicknames or descriptions include: Little, Strong, Black, Young, White, Strong or Swift.

The best has to be Falwell, or Fallowell.  Yes, someone, long, long ago, “Fell in the well!”

LAWYER GET SCAMMED

LAWYER CLICKS AWAY $289,000
As an injury lawyer, I hear about newsworthy stories involving lawyers from all over the country. A San Diego attorney reportedly simply clicked on an email attachment, and days later his entire bank account was swiped clean.  To add insult to injury, apparently, the bank will not cover the loss.
Apparently, the lawyer got an email appearing to be from usps.gov. Understandably, he thought it was from the United States Postal Service. He clicked the attachment as requested.
Like many people do nowadays, he banked online. Reports indicate he tried to log onto his law firm’s bank account later that day, apparently on that same computer. It did not work correctly, and he received a call from a person claiming to be with the bank. The alleged bank employee appeared to try to help him, but actually took him through a series of steps over the next several days that caused the entire balance of almost $300,000 to be transferred to a Chinese bank account. Apparently, the attachment he clicked on recorded his keystrokes.
But, that lawyer had nothing on one Iowa lawyer.
While representing a suspect in a criminal case in 2011, the lawyer was presented with documents saying that upon payment of $177,660 in taxes owed on an inheritance in Nigeria, the sum of $18,800,000 would be released to the suspect. In consideration for a fee equal to ten percent of the funds recovered, the lawyer agreed to represent him in the Nigerian transaction. Amazing.
But then, he got other clients of his to loan money to the suspect for purposes of securing the Nigerian inheritance by buying trumped up stuff like an “anti-terrorism certificate.”
When the fictional Nigerian inheritance never came, the attorney was out legal fees and, more importantly, all those loans made by his various clients never got repaid. The victims were hurt twice.
Then the ethical charges hit. He was suspended for a year. However, he was not found to have been fraudulent. In fact, the Board seemed to be amused as they wrote that he “…appears to have honestly believed — and continues to believe — that one day a trunk full of . . . one hundred dollar bills is going to appear upon his office doorstep,” the Board asserted before the commission that his conduct might aptly be described as delusional, but not fraudulent.
Be careful what you click!

DON’T FALL FOR THE NEWEST SCAM


There is a new e-mail scam making the rounds, and it does not say that it comes from Nigeria this time. Be sure to share with those who might get confused so that they do not fall for it.

I just received mine via e-mail:

Dear Peel,

I am Barr.Bob Kokou, My late client Mr. Robert Peel, who died as a result of the 11th September 2001 WTC terrorist attack has an unclaim safe-deposit (US$10,5 million)in a Finance Security Company,whom i believe is your relative having beared the same surname.. Contact me with my private email (***) immediately for more details Thanks and God bless.
Regards,
Attorney Bob Kokou.(Esq)

If this sounds too good to be true, it is because it is.  It is clearly a scam. Here are some things I noticed immediately:

1. It was a personal, rather than a business, e-mail.
2. It was sent to multiple undisclosed recipients, and by only last name.
3. It asked to a reply to different email address than the sender.
4. It had no other contact information that could be corroborated like an office phone or address.
5. He refers to himself a “barrister” which is a foreign word for lawyer.
6. The spelling, verb tense and coding of numbers is wrong.
7. No Robert Peel died in 9/11. Those lists are easy to locate.
8. His name is the name of a false god. From, where else, but Nigeria?!? According to the folks at Wikipedia, “In the Yoruba religion of Benin, a Kokou is one of the most highly feared warrior under-gods, and it is the most violent and powerful of the Yoruba spirits and the voodoo rituals surrounding it involves its followers to fall into a deep trance with rapidly beating drums. Once possessed by the spirit, the body in which the Kokou inhabits may remain in a trance all day and in due course demonstrate a thirst for blood with glass bottles and knives, swallow sharp objects or repeatedly beat its head against the wall until it bleeds profusely, revealing a high tolerance to pain.”

I know you are thinking that this is so clearly a scam at first blush that no one will fall for it. Believe me, these things work or they would not go to the trouble.

NEED AN UMBRELLA?


Even if it’s not raining, you may need an umbrella. “Umbrella insurance,” that is. As an injury attorney who sees terrible accidents and tragedies every single week, I commend to you the idea of umbrella insurance.

Umbrella insurance is basically additional liability insurance. It is designed to help protect you and yours from major claims or lawsuits. Having $1,000,000.00 to pay out if you cause a huge loss protects your assets.

This unique kind of insurance provides additional liability coverage above the limits of your homeowners, auto, boat, ATV, and farm insurance policies. It affords more liability coverage on any rental units you may own. It kicks in when the liability limits on these other policies has been exhausted. Umbrella coverage also covers the odder claims that may be excluded by other liability policies including: false arrest, libel and slander.
Examples might include:

• Injuries to other parties due to a serious car accident where you are at fault, like rear-ending a full school bus.
• You show a gun to a guest and it goes off, causing them to lose their foot.
• Injuries sustained by a guest in your home due to a fall in that hole your son dug.
• Harm caused to the postal worker as a result of your dog attacking him.
• Damage claims incurred when your pet rips a friend's priceless oriental rug to shreds.
• Injuries sustained by a neighbor's child who fell off your trampoline.
• A child is found dead in your swimming pool.
• Someone trips over a crack in the sidewalk of your rental property and sues you for damages.

The odd cases of slander (an injurious spoken statement that is false) or libel (the same, only in written form) are indeed rare, but not unheard of.

Let's say you rear-end that school bus. The cost of the injuries you cause to others is $500,000. Let's further say that the Bodily Injury limit on your auto insurance is a generous $300,000. Your auto policy will cover $300,000 of the injuries. Your assets are in jeopardy for the rest. But your umbrella policy will cover the amount above the limit set in your auto policy, up to the limit you choose for your umbrella policy (usually $1,000,000.00).

Umbrella insurance is not that expensive. However, be aware that it requires a higher minimum bodily injury limit (usually $250,000-300,000) on your auto policy to qualify for an umbrella policy.