Do I Have a Legal Claim If I Am Injured By a Shopping Cart?

Posted on October 11, 2022 by admin

Shopping carts are such a common commodity that many people fail to realize just how dangerous they can be. When used, corralled, or maintained negligently, shopping carts can cause serious and long-lasting injuries to both adults and children. If you or your child recently sustained injuries in a negligent shopping cart accident, you may be wondering if you have a valid legal claim, either against the proprietor or another shopper.

Continue reading to learn some helpful information about shopping cart injury claims, plus who to trust for dependable legal advice regarding personal injury cases in Indiana.

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Shopping Cart Injuries and Legal Claims

Shopping cart accidents can involve children and adult shopping carts. These days, shopping carts found at retail stores come in all sorts of styles, from racecars and miniature shopping carts for children to adult size shopping carts, basket carts, double tier carts, platform carts, and more. As for the a conventional, adult-sized shopping cart, a new study the Clinical Pediatrics journal reports that between the years 1990 and 2011, more than 500,000 children were admitted into the emergency room due to shopping cart related injuries. Using this data, the study reveals that an average of 24,000 children go to the hospital each year for shopping cart related injuries, which comes out to sixty-six hospital admissions every day.

With astonishing statistics like these, it is important to protect yourself and your loved ones from negligent shopping cart accidents. If you or someone you love was injured by a shopping cart due to the negligence of the store, the shopping cart manufacturer, or another shopper, it is important that you contact an Indianapolis personal injury lawyer to learn your rights for pursuing a legal claim against the at-fault party.

Types of Shopping Cart Injuries

Unfortunately, the safety standards for shopping carts are not regulated on a state or federal level. Instead, they are voluntarily implemented by the shopping cart manufacturer themselves. For this reason, shopping cart safety standards are unbalanced. Furthermore, there has been no observable decrease in shopping cart injuries since 2004 when safety standards were moderately revised for shopping carts.

The most common types of injuries that result from shopping cart accidents are head injuries, orthopedic injuries, lacerations, and contusions. These kinds of injuries commonly result from falling out of the shopping cart, but also due to the shopping cart tipping over, getting run over by a shopping cart, running into the shopping cart, falling over the cart, or getting stuck in the shopping cart (or a body part stuck).

Suing the Store or Another Shopper for Shopping Cart Injuries

Under premises liability laws, store owners are responsible for maintaining a business that is safe and free of any foreseeable hazards. If the store owner failed in any way to protect you from a shopping cart accident, they can be held liable for your damages and losses. If the shopping cart manufacturer is solely responsible for a shopping cart accident, perhaps because the shopping cart was defective or poorly designed, or lacking the proper warning labels about the cart’s risks, the claim would fall under product liability law. In some cases, the shopping cart manufacturer can be held responsible along with the store owner.

If another shopper causes a shopping cart accident because they were reckless or negligent in some way, it can be deemed a civil wrongdoing under Tort law. In this case, the injured person could bring about a claim under tort law and recover compensation for their damages and losses.

Do not start your legal claim process without the help of a seasoned personal injury lawyer who can help you determine the best course of action for your case. Contact the legal office of Craven Blazek Law at 317-881-2700 to schedule a free case evaluation with a skilled personal injury lawyer in Indianapolis, Indiana. We represent clients all throughout the state, plus Indiana residents injured in other states. We can hold meetings via phone or online video conference, so there is never any need to travel.

Helpful Ways to Manage Your Grief After a Loved One’s Passing

Posted on October 7, 2022 by admin

No one will ever have all the answers, or even the right words for that matter, to make you feel more at peace with a loved ones’ passing, although just being there for someone can help. This is ineffably a very dark and emotional time for you and the many others close to the departed, find solace in knowing that there are ways to help cope with the emotional stress and deep pain that comes along with losing someone you love. And although you may want to be alone, there will be many who want to extend their condolences. For the sake of your emotional and mental health, as well as your overall quality of life moving forward, you will have to learn how to remain open to them and the others around you.

Continue below for some helpful advice on how you might better manage your grief after a loved one’s death, plus what you should do if your loved one lost their lives as a result of another’s negligence.

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Coping Mechanisms for the Bereaved

Stay Close to Family and Friends

Your close relatives and friends are the people who care about you the most; and may in fact share the grief of the departed with you. Use them as they will use you to be a shoulder to cry on. Rather than holding back, use this time to open up to family and friends about your feelings and fears. They too should feel willing to talk, easing the tension and frustration of bottled feelings. This helps the healing process begin.

Endure Funeral Planning

Whether you decide on a small or large funeral, it is best to go in the direction that puts the least amount of stress on you and the rest of the immediate family. If the departed has made special requests for their funeral ahead of time, it is important to honor those last wishes; however, if there are none, use your best judgment on what they would have wanted and what works within your abilities. Do not be afraid to inform others that the funeral is for close family only, if you desire a very small private funeral. Even if they are close friends, they will respect the wishes of the family.

If the funeral is a very large event, do not worry about talking and greeting every single guest. Be sure to relax and make your own pace. This will help your stress and sensitivity levels throughout the day. Most people will understand that much of the family isn’t up for conversation as it is.

Accept Death and Welcome Back Life

Once the funeral is over, and the extended family travels home, it is normal to feel directionless. It is important to use the funeral as a safe platform to say goodbye and make your peace with the loss. Death is a guarantee to all of us, and it is also important to know that life does not stop when another’s ends.

Try to understand that your life is still here, and you have time ahead of you to make the best of it. Appreciate the time you had with the departed and remember and honor them in your own way but be sure to continue pursing your goals and dreams. After all, that is exactly what the departed would want for you. And remember that it’s okay to be sad every so often because you have family and friends to pull you through. In addition, if you feel the need, you can always seek professional help and guidance from a priest, pastor, religious or non-religious counselor or a psychologist or psychiatrist. Given the extent on the loss, whatever you need is whatever you need.

Was the passing of your loved one a result of another’s negligence? If so, you have rights. Contact the legal office of Craven Blazek Law at 317-881-2700 to learn your options for pursing a wrongful death claim in Indianapolis, Indiana. We represent injured persons and the loved ones of deceased persons throughout the State regardless of how the injury occurred, so long as the person was injured or killed as a result of another’s negligence which is a failure to use reasonable care. Not only do our Indianapolis wrongful death lawyers offer free initial case evaluations, but our personal injury law firm does not collect lawyer fees unless we recover a settlement or verdict for you.

Is a Misdiagnosis Considered Medical Malpractice?

Posted on October 4, 2022 by admin

Medical malpractice lawsuits are incredibly complex legal cases that require the specific and comprehensive knowledge of a seasoned medical malpractice attorney in Indiana. When asking about a correlation between incorrect diagnoses and malpractice, the answer is muddled with varying factors. Determining whether a misdiagnosis is grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit or not requires expert testimony.

Continue below to learn what you need to know about medical misdiagnoses and medical malpractice laws in Indiana, plus where to get trusted personal injury legal advice near you.

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Medical Misdiagnoses Can Be Seriously Harmful to Patients

A medical misdiagnosis a wrong diagnosis or a delayed diagnosis, both of which can be very dangerous to a patient’s physical and mental health. After being wrongly diagnosed, a patient can endure serious physical and mental harm as a result of incorrect treatments and medications, or delayed treatment. Diagnostic errors are bound to happen, and when they do, there can be very serious consequences.

An article was published a few years back in the popular medical journal, Diagnosis, discussing diagnostic errors and the impact it has on patients and their families. According to the data in the article, out of all medical malpractice claims that arise because of a patient’s death or permanent disability, virtually 34% were due to incorrect or delayed medical misdiagnoses. This 2019 diagnostic error study is especially fascinating because it covered a 10-year period that examined 28.7% of closed medical malpractice cases in the United States. Of these medical malpractice cases, it was found that over 11,500 diagnostic error claims were made by patients, and 75% of them based upon serious and potentially fatal diseases like cancer, vascular events (heart attacks, stroke, etc.), and infections.

Suing for a Medical Misdiagnosis

Doctors generally base their diagnoses on lab results, symptoms, and medical baselines and precedents. Because medical misdiagnoses are not always considered negligence, wrongfully diagnosed patients do not always have grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit. In order for a patient to sue a hospital, medical facility, or physician for being misdiagnosed, the misdiagnosis must be negligent. In the case that a physician or medical facility took all of the reasonable steps to properly diagnose a patient, they cannot be held legally liable under medical malpractice laws if the diagnosis is incorrect.

To protect yourself from being medically misdiagnosed, be sure to have questions prepared for your physician prior to your doctor’s appointment. Do not be afraid to speak up and seek out information regarding your diagnosis, testing, treatments, and care. Furthermore, it is important to be an active member of your treatment plan by being honest with your doctor and providing them with all medical records.

Do you believe that you or a loved one is a victim of medical malpractice due to a diagnostic error? Contact the legal office of Craven Blazek Law at 317-881-2700 to schedule a free case evaluation with an experienced medical malpractice lawyer in Indianapolis, Indiana. Our personal injury attorneys represent clients throughout the state. We can hold consults over the phone or online via video conference.

How to Manage a Workers’ Comp Injury Claim

Posted on September 29, 2022 by admin

When an employee is injured while on the clock, they are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits through their job. These benefits are meant to help cover the cost of the damages and losses incurred because of the accident. This may include lost wages, hospital bills, medical expenses, prolonged therapy, a permanent partial impairment rating and more. If an employee is killed on the job, the dependents are also entitled to receive benefits.

If you were recently injured at work, it is in your best interest to learn what you can about workplace accidents and injury claims so that you may make the right decisions regarding your physical and financial recovery. If you have not been injured at work, it is still wise to learn these tips so that you are prepared if it ever happens to you or someone you love.

Continue reading to learn what you should and should not do in the case that you are injured at work and considering workers’ compensation.

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Workplace Injury Claim Process

What You Should Do

To protect yourself and your rights to maximum compensation, be sure to make the right decisions in the process. This includes the following:

Report your injury immediately, whether you think you need medical care or not.

Demand that a written accident report is made on the spot and be sure to get a copy for yourself.

Immediately seek or accept medical attention.

Retain all paperwork and documentation of your accident, injuries, and medical care. Keep track of all the written restrictions and instructions given to you by your doctor.

If your employer makes any retaliations or threats regarding your claim, contact the Department of Labor immediately and report the harassment.

If you are unsatisfied with your medical treatment or diagnosis, ask for a second opinion.

Obtain an attorney. The worker compensation carrier for your employer has attorneys and you should also.

If you are denied certain benefits due to a “pre-existing condition”, be sure to protest with the help of an experienced Indiana workplace injury lawyer.

What You Should NOT Do

Do not fail to report your injury.

Do not decline medical attention. This can be harmful to you both physically and in terms of filing a claim.

Do not let the company’s case manager into your hospital examination room while you are with the doctor if you do not want them in there.

Do not let the workers’ compensation insurance carrier take too long to approve or deny your injury claim. There are state laws that mandate when they must respond. It is usually within 30 days after the claim is officially filed.

Do not believe your employer if they tell you there is a “minimum period” of employment that you must retain to receive workers’ compensation benefits. You are entitled to benefits immediately, no matter your length of employment.

Do not miss or reschedule any appointments that are made by your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier. Missing too many appointments can revoke your right to certain benefits.

When you return to work, do not let your employer place you into a line of duty that violates your work restrictions provided by the treating doctor.

Are you having trouble getting what you need from your workplace injury claim? Contact the legal office of Craven Blazek Law at 317-881-2700 to schedule a free initial consultation with a skilled workers’ compensation attorney in Indianapolis, Indiana. We can hold meetings over the phone, via online conferencing, or in person at our Indianapolis personal injury law firm.

The General Steps of a Car Accident Injury Trial

Posted on September 26, 2022 by admin

In the vast majority of cases of car accident lawsuits, both parties usually avoid trial by settling the case with the assistance from their respective attorneys. This happens when the claimant party, or injured victim, agrees to a settlement offered by the opposing party’s insurance carrier. However, if both parties cannot come to a settlement agreement, the case will go to trial. Trials are serious matters, which is why it is vital to always have private personal injury representation as a wrongfully injured victim in Indiana. They can navigate your car accident case every step of the way.

For a better understanding of what this might involve, continue below to review the general steps of car accident injury trial.

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Car Accident Liability Disputes

In the case of a car accident liability dispute, a claimant has two options for resolution: they can settle with the insurance company or file a personal injury lawsuit. Settling with the insurance company would involve out-of-court settlement negotiations that would take place between the claimant party (injured victim and their legal team) and the insurance carrier.

If the insurance carrier offers a full and fair settlement for the injured victim’s damages and losses, the injured victim might agree to the settlement, and the case can be completed and closed. If the injured victim and their legal team reject the settlement offer by the insurance carrier, they can bring the case to court. At trial, a car accident injury dispute will be heard and decided normally by a jury and rarely by a judge.

Car accident injury cases tend to go to trial because they are high-value, or because they involve complicated factors surrounding liability and causation. It is important to have an experienced Indianapolis car accident lawyer working your case for the best possible chance at recovering the maximum settlement for your damages and losses.

What To Expect at a Car Accident Injury Trial

Your personal injury car accident lawyer will handle every aspect of your case, from start to finish. On your behalf, they will attend every hearing and pretrial meeting representing your best interests. The general phases of a car accident injury trial include discovery, mediation, jury selection, opening statements, presentation of evidence, closing arguments, jury deliberation, and verdict delivery.

Discovery Phase

The discovery phase is a type of pretrial meeting that takes place between the legal team of the claimant party (injured victim) and the legal team of the plaintiff party (insurance company). During this phase, the lawyers will exchange information relevant to the case by means of depositions, interrogatories, or other requests for evidence.

Jury Selection

Following the discovery phase, both the plaintiff and claimant legal teams will interview a panel of potential jurors by asking them several questions. They will need six qualified jurors and one alternate in Indiana.

Opening Statements

Once the trial begins, both sides will make opening statements to the court and jury. These statements outline what the lawyer intends on proving throughout the proceedings.

Presentation of Evidence

During this stage of a car accident injury trial, both legal teams for each side will present the evidence they have that proves their case. Such evidence might include documents, records, witness testimonies, expert testimonies, photographs, videos, receipts, and relevant evaluations.

Closing Arguments

Towards the end of the trial, after all evidence has been presented and argued, the claimant’s lawyer and the plaintiff’s lawyer will make closing arguments. These are similar to opening statements in that they summarize all facts and testimony presented and proved throughout the trial.

Jury Deliberations

During this phase of a car accident trial, the jury will deliberate and ultimately decide whether the claimant met their burden of proof or not.

Verdict

After the jury and judge decide that the claimant party did meet their burden of proof and therefore the opposing party’s liability in the case, they will be award financial compensation. If the judge and jury decide that the claimant party failed at meeting this burden, the case will be closed, and they would receive no compensation.

Are you ready to discuss the legal options you have surrounding your recent and wrongful car accident in Indiana? Contact the legal office of Craven Blazek Law at 317-881-2700 to schedule a free initial case evaluation for your car accident injury lawsuit in Indianapolis, Indiana. We represent injured persons and the loved ones following the wrongful death of a relative throughout the State of Indiana. We also represent Hoosiers who were injured and the Estates of persons wrongly killed in other states.

Possible Liable Parties in a Self-Driving Car Accident

Posted on September 23, 2022 by admin

Decades ago, self-driving cars were merely a fantasy often depicted in some of our favorite throwback movies and TV shows, like Total Recall, Timecop, Herbie, The Fifth Element, and Christine. Yet today, they are a real thing. You may have seen one or two autonomous vehicles powered by Siri or Google in your community or downtown technology district. You may have already ridden in one. But like virtually all new technological innovations, there are bound to be some stumbling blocks. After all, self-driving vehicles are still a brand-new means of transportation in society. So, how safe are self-driving cars? That is hard to say. What can be said is, self-driving car accidents do happen. And when they do, pinpointing the liable party can be tricky since there are multiple possibilities.

Continue below to review some of the more likely responsible parties in a self-driving motor vehicle accident, plus where to get trusted legal advice after being wrongfully injured by an autonomous car or negligent driver in Indiana.

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Autonomous Vehicle Accidents and Liability

When it comes to self-driving car accidents, the most common liable parties include the human operator, technology company, automaker, government, or a third party. It is possible for more than one of these parties to be responsible for any damages suffered by a passenger or driver of an autonomous vehicle.

The Operator of the Vehicle

Self-driving cars are not fully autonomous; they still require a human supervisor or operator. It is very possible for the operator of the autonomous vehicle to be responsible for a car accident. Whether driving or on autopilot, if an operator of a self-driving vehicle is reckless or negligent during the ride, and as a result an accident happens, it could be their fault.

The Technology Company or Vehicle Manufacturer

There is a company that made the actual vehicle, then there is the company that made the technology possible. If a self-driving car accident occurs because the technology company was negligent in some way. For instance, if they did not properly test the vehicle before releasing it or resolve a significant microchip defect in the autonomous technology, they could be held liable for an injured victim’s damages and more.

The automaker of the vehicle might be responsible for a self-driving car collision or accident if there is a defect in the car’s assembly, design, or advertising that directly caused the accident and subsequent damages.

Government Agency

In rare cases, a government agency can be liable for a self-driving vehicle accident. This might happen if an autonomous car accident occurs as a result of inadequate safety testing, safety rules, and fundamental regulations, or due to a serious roadway defect.

Third Parties

Third parties that might be responsible for a self-driving car accident include drunk drivers, reckless drivers, negligent commercial truck drivers, or a business that fails to maintain a safe parking lot.

No matter what kind of car accident you were wrongfully injured in, it is your right to be granted a full and fair settlement for your damages. Contact the legal office of Craven Blazek Law at 317-881-2700 to schedule a free case evaluation with an experienced car accident injury lawyer in Indianapolis, Indiana. We represent all motor vehicle-related accident cases throughout the state of Indiana, including truck accidents, pedestrian accidents, motorcycle accidents, wrongful deaths, and more.

What You Need to Know About Pedestrian Car Accident Injury Cases

Posted on September 20, 2022 by admin

Car and traffic accidents, like collisions, rearends, fender benders, side-swipes, and off-road wrecks, typically involve automobiles. Yet, there is another common type of victim that can exist in a motor vehicle accident: those on foot, or in the terms of traffic law, pedestrians. So, what are the lawful rights for a pedestrian who has been hit or injured by a driver? Depending on certain and specific criteria, a pedestrian may or may not have legal rights to a settlement for any damages or losses sustained as a result of their accident. Although a harsh possibility, anyone injured in a pedestrian car accident should consult with an experienced personal injury lawyer to confirm their options for pursing legal action against a wrongful party.

Continue reading to learn more about pedestrian rights, including the potential legal opportunities for pedestrians injured in a car accident.

Pedestrian Injury Lawyer Indianapolis Indiana 317-881-2700

Right of Way for Pedestrians and Drivers

The first aspect to consider in a car accident pedestrian injury case is fault. Was it the driver’s fault for hitting the pedestrian with their vehicle? Or was it the pedestrian’s fault that the driver hit them? Depending on the circumstances of the accident, it could go either way. In drivers’ education, they avidly teach pupils that pedestrians always have the right of way, and to always yield to pedestrians at marked crosswalks, parking lots, and other designated areas decreed in the state’s vehicle code.

Drivers’ education curriculum also covers a driver’s legal responsibility to obey all traffic laws, traffic signals, traffic signs, and speed limits. If a pedestrian is struck by a driver who is violating any traffic laws, the driver is automatically to blame for the accident. However, not all pedestrian car accident injury cases so cut-and-dry. If an individual is walking in a non-pedestrian designated area, like the side of the interstate or through the middle of a major roadway, then they are likely to be apportioned the majority of the fault if struck by a vehicle.

Personal Injury Compensation For Injured Pedestrians

If a pedestrian suffers injuries after being hit by a car because the driver was disobeying traffic laws, they are likely to be compensated by the driver’s insurance carrier. Injured pedestrians can collect compensation for their medical expenses, hospital bills, lost wages, pain-and-suffering, and more, depending on the severity of their injuries. If an at-fault driver is insured, a lawsuit can be filed against the at-fault driver and their insurance carrier pays and judgment or settlement.

If a driver is not insured, which is not usually the case, an injured victim can pursue a personal injury lawsuit against them in civil court. If the driver does not retain any significant assets or finances to garnish, which is usually the case since the person did not even have auto insurance, the injured victim can make an uninsured motorist claim and attempt to collect their damages from their own insurance policy if they have uninsured motorist coverage. It is vital to all persons to purchase uninsured motorist coverage when they buy an auto policy so that they and anyone else in their vehicle is fully protected and collect for any personal injury damages.

It is possible for an injured pedestrian to walk away empty handed if there is no insurance coverages available or money to pay for their damages.

Are you an injured pedestrian looking for legal answers to your personal injury questions in Indiana? Contact the legal office of Craven Blazek Law at 317-881-2700 to schedule a free personal injury case evaluation with an Indianapolis pedestrian injury lawyer, today. We represent clients throughout the state, plus Indiana residents injured in other states and residents from other states injured in Indiana.

Which Indiana Personal Injury Law Firm Should I Choose?

Posted on September 16, 2022 by admin

When you are suffering the physical, mental, and financial repercussions of a wrongful accident, you deserve justice. Let the Law Office of Craven, Hoover, and Blazek, P.C. protect your rights and preserve your overall quality of life by obtaining the full and fair compensation you are owed.

Local Indianapolis Personal Injury Law Firm 317-881-2700 — Schedule a No-Fee Consultation Today!

Our Indianapolis Accident Lawyers Know How to Negotiate With Insurance Companies

Don’t settle for an unfair payout from your or the at-fault party’s insurance company after sustaining serious injuries and losses from an accident. At Craven, Hoover, and Blazek, P.C., our Indianapolis IN personal injury lawyers never back down when it comes to negotiating with insurance companies. As our client, you won’t have to worry about an unfair or low settlement offer, nor the challenge of dealing with unscrupulous or unrelenting insurance adjusters.

We know how to work with insurance carriers so that you are rewarded the full and fair compensation you deserve for your accident-related damages, including past, current, and future losses. Although virtually 95% of all personal injury claims are eventually settled out of court when insurance companies are involved, if we cannot get your or the at-fault party’s insurance companies to agree to the full and fair compensation you deserve, we are fully prepared to take your claim to trial.

Our Broad Practice Areas

The Law Office of Craven, Hoover, and Blazek. P.C. concentrates on various personal injury cases, including workers’ compensation, car accidents, drunk driving accidents, slip and fall accidents, defective products, medical malpractice, burn injuries, head and neck injuries, child injuries, trucking cases, catastrophic accidents, and more. Getting started is easy. Just contact us to schedule a free case evaluation with one of our personal injury lawyers. We can hold consultations over the phone, via online video conference, or in person at our Indianapolis office.

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You Do Not Pay Upfront Fees

At the legal office of Craven Blazek Law, clients never pay upfront lawyer fees. Instead, our skilled Indianapolis personal injury lawyers handle cases on a contingency-fee basis, meaning clients only pay if our lawyers are successful at recovering a settlement or verdict for their accident and injuries. So, you can trust our seasoned and compassionate Indiana accident attorneys to recover the rightful compensation for your damages and losses, including hospital bills, medical expenses, lost wages, prolonged physical therapy, future economic losses, pain-and-suffering, and much more.

Get in Touch Today

Contact the legal office of Craven Blazek Law at 317-881-2700 to schedule a no-risk, no-fee personal injury evaluation to explore your eligibility, today. Our accident attorneys have the experience, knowledge, drive, and resources to get the maximum settlement you and your loved ones rightfully deserve. We represent clients all throughout the state of Indiana. Get in touch today!

Recurrent Types of Commercial Trucker Safety Violations

Posted on September 13, 2022 by admin

Like any other driver on the road, commercial truck drivers are subject to being ticketed for traffic and safety violations. In more serious cases, commercial truckers are ordered to refrain from driving until such violations are addressed in accordance with local and state law.

It is important for law enforcement to hold industry truck drivers strictly accountable for violating safety protocols and regulations while operating a big rig or commercial truck because such trucks pose a higher level of threat to other vehicles, pedestrians, and properties; and not just due to their size, but also the quantity of momentum gained while operating at high speeds. Essentially, semi-trucks and similar commercial vehicles are like multi-ton missiles and tanks out on the road.

Continue below to learn more about the recurrent types of commercial trucker safety violations and better protect yourself from negligent trucker accidents.

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Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) Regulation in the United States:

Although it is fairly common for commercial truckers to violate important traffic and safety codes on the road, there are systems in place to abate and create awareness for trucking safety. For instance, the Indiana State Police has an entirely separate department that is solely responsible for commercial motor vehicle (CMV) law enforcement.

Additionally, the United States trucking industry in whole is regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). The FMCSA performs routine inspections on all trucking companies and operators in the country, plus aggressively seeks grievances and criticism about truck safety issues in local communities and cities. They also maintain an active website that offers a National Consumer Complaint Database portal for submitting complaints about unsafe truck drivers in your area.

If you have observed unsafe commercial truckers in your community, you can report your concerns free of charge to the FMCSA database, or you may contact 911 if you see a reckless driver or unsafe truck on the road.

Common Commercial Trucker Safety Violations to Watch Out For

The most common causes for truck accidents involves driver-error. One of the most frequent mistakes trucking companies make is setting unrealistic or arduous deadlines, causing truck driver fatigue, speeding and other short-cuts. Another cause for truck driver accidents involves improper training. When a trucking company fails to properly train their truck drivers through a professional trucking course, it can lead to dangerous driver errors that jeopardize the safety of the drive themselves, as well as others around them. Inadequate truck inspections, unbalanced cargo, overloaded cargo, hazardous chemical leaks, and lack of safety maintenance are other common reasons why commercial truckers cause accidents.

More specifically, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), commercial truckers and trucking companies in the United States are most often cited for the following types of safety violations:

◈ Speeding or Swerving Through Lanes
◈ Tailgating Behind Other Vehicles
◈ Changing Lanes Incorrectly or Unsafely
◈ Making Improper or Illegal Turns
◈ Failing to Yield to the Right of Way
◈ Violating Railroad Grade Crossings
◈ Disobeying Traffic Lights and Signs
◈ Reckless or Careless Driving
◈ Using a Handheld Phone While Driving
◈ Driving While Impaired

Were you or a loved one seriously injured in an accident caused by a negligent commercial truck driver in Indiana? Contact the legal office of Craven Blazek Law at 317-881-2700 and schedule a free personal injury case evaluation to discuss your truck accident in Indianapolis, today. We represent clients all throughout the state of Indiana.

Do I Need to File a Lawsuit After Being Hurt in an Accident?

Posted on September 6, 2022 by admin

After being injured in an accident by the carelessness of another, many victims are legally entitled to some degree of reimbursement or compensation for their losses. These losses include damages like lost wages, medical expenses, hospital bills, prolonged rehabilitation, mental trauma, pain, suffering, property damages, and more. In extreme cases where the wrong doer demonstrated egregious misconduct or caused such trauma that compensation is not a sufficient means of amends, punitive damages may also be awarded by a court or jury.

Although a victim of a negligent act or accident is truly a victim and should be compensated for their damages, pursuing a lawsuit for such restitution may not always be in the victim’s best interest. Most often, a personal injury lawsuit is the path wrongly injured victims should take, but in some instances, it may not be the best option for a number of reasons. For this reason, it is wise to consider whether a lawsuit is a worthwhile endeavor.

Continue reading to learn a few considerations that can help a personal injury victim decide if a lawsuit is the productive course of action to take after being hurt in an accident.

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Examining the Details of the Accident

After being injured in an accident at the expense of another person or entity, it is important to indicate three aspects of the incident. First, it is critical to consider the actual level of fault of the opposing party.

What was their role in the incident?

Did they have a legal duty of care to prevent such accidents from happening to the same class of people as the victim?

Would a reasonable person have foreseen the possibility of the accident happening?

Did they take reasonable action to prevent such accidents?

There is much more involved in determining fault in a personal injury case, but these are a few inquiries that come into play when assessing liability. Sometimes, it can seem like an accident was the other person or company’s fault, when in fact, they are cleared of such liability for several other reasons. If a person does not have a strong enough claim against an opposing party, or if the opposing party is not the majority at-fault, there may be no point to a personal injury lawsuit.

Comparative Fault Analysis

It is also important to consider the victim’s own liability in the accident. This is referred to as comparative fault analysis. According to USLEGAL.com, Comparative Fault Analysis is defined as, “…a doctrine of tort law which permits plaintiff and defendant to compare their liability for the accident. It allows proportionate recovery if both the plaintiff and defendant were negligent and thereby contributed to the cause of an injury.” So, one must ask themselves what was their level of fault might be? Could they have prevented their injuries? Should they have reasonably foreseen that such an accident could happen? Was what they were doing at the time of the incident reasonable?

For example, consider a winter blizzard. On a snowy and icy day, a young man visits a grocery store wearing roller skates. Although there are wet floor signs posted everywhere and the store attempted reasonable clean up, he ignores them and continues to skate his way through the store, eventually wiping out and injuring himself badly. Since a reasonable person would not wear roller skates to a grocery store in those conditions because they know that floors will be wet and slippery, and since the grocery store took reasonable action to try to clean and to post “wet floor” signs as a warning to customers, the level of fault might fall onto the man. In this case, the store would not be held liable or fully liable for his injuries. A personal injury lawsuit might be futile in this example.

Extent of Damages

And the third aspect to consider is the severity of the victim’s injury and the extent of damages incurred because of the accident. If the injury is not so serious that it caused the victim to suffer calculable financial losses like medical bills, lost wages, and loss of ability to work.

For instance, let’s say a person is wrongly rear-ended by another driver and the collision causes the airbag to deploy. As a result, the person who was rear-ended incurred minor airbag burns on their forearm but no other injuries. Because these burns are minor, they only required one doctor’s visit in which the physician orders the patient to use OTC topical ointment to soothe the burns as they heal. Because the accident did not cause them to suffer serious damages and losses, a personal injury lawsuit would be useless, although if a settlement were not reached with the at-fault party’s insurance carrier, a lawsuit in small claims court might be sufficient but again, the pros and cons of your time and effort in obtaining a small claims judgement would need to be weighed.

Had the car accident resulted in a head injury, orthopedic injury, or similar serious injuries that require extensive medical treatment and ongoing rehabilitation, the circumstance would change, and a personal injury claim and possible lawsuit would be worthwhile filing.

Prospect of Compensation

Aside from the three aspects of the accident, it is important to think about the possibility of compensation. Although a court can rule that a victim is owed compensation, the court is not the one to pay it, and neither is the government unless the claim was brought against the government. All compensation that is court- ordered to the victim or their families has to come from, in almost all cases, the defendant’s insurance company. If a defendant has no insurance, and has very little assets, income, or savings, there is little chance to get the compensation. They usually cannot pay a judgment if they could not afford to carry liability insurance. For this reason, pursuing a lawsuit is most often not worthwhile, but every case needs to be looked at individually.

Would you like to learn more about your opportunity to obtain compensation through an Indiana personal injury claim or lawsuit? C o ntact the legal office of Craven Blazek Law at 317-881-2700 to schedule a no-risk, no-fee personal injury evaluation to explore your eligibility, today. We represent clients all throughout the state of Indiana and Indiana residents injured in other states.