He then send me an email on lane control. He was nice enough to allow me to post this information.

From Allen:

”As a traffic cycling instructor certified by the League of American Bicyclists, I teach bicyclists to control their travel lane by riding near the center unless each of three conditions apply at once:
1) the bicyclist is significantly slower than immediately overtaking traffic,
2) the travel lane width is shareable (i.e., at least 14 feet wide), AND
3) the bicyclist is not approaching an intersection or driveway where a vehicle could turn right.

In other words, bicyclists should practice lane control by default and only share lanes laterally when they can do so safely. Unfortunately, the prevailing belief among the general public, most law enforcement officers, and even most experienced bicyclists–that bicyclists should generally hug the right edge of the roadway–is pretty much the opposite.”

The Virginia Code says stay to the right as close as is safetly possible. Allen makes a great point that being on the right is not alwasy the safest place to be. Thanks again Allen.

As much as there is a need for space there is also a need for another judge to sit in Albemarle and Charlottesville. The current case load for these two courts is simply too high for the two judges that currently sit. With civil cases being set one year out in the county and eighteen months out in the city, there is a need for another judge. While there is a need, there is no state funding nor an extra courtroom that is large enough to facilitate another full time judge.

As far as moving the courts out into the county, I hope the Board of Supervisors decides against this. Too many counties have build large court complexes that are very sterile and lack any character. One of the wonderful parts of this area is the historic Court Square. I hope the county will work to find the space it needs while maintaining the Court Square history.

If you stop medical treatment for three or four months for your car accident injuries and then return to the doctor, the insurance company will almost surely point out that there is a “treatment gap.” How that affects whether or not you were injured is beyond me, but they use this excuse frequently. One would think that the insurance company would appreciate a person not over-treating, but they find a way to use it as an excuse for a low offer.

I want to caution you to never go to the doctor in an effort to run up your medical bills. This is not only dishonest, but it will likely ultimately harm your Virginia Personal Injury case. You should, however, go to the doctor if you were shceduled or are not getting better from your car accident injury. Being stoic and not treating is taken by the insurance company as your not being hurt enough to seek medical care.

The investigating police officer will usually note if there were any injuries at the scene of an accident. Sometimes, they do not question everyone, or it will appear that everyone is okay.

Frankly, after a collision, many people have high adrenaline levels and do not realize that they are hurt. For many, connective tissue injuries may not even be felt until the next day. It is similar to if you went and lifted weights for an hour if you were not a weight lifter. You would likely not feel the soreness until the next day.

Many medical providers will agree that just becuase you do not complain of an injury at the scene does not mean that you could not have been injured. Many of my more stoic clients will see if things get better after a few days before they decide to seek medical attention for a Virginia car accident.

2) There was little or no property damage

“How could you have been hurt when there was only a small scratch on the bumper?” The is a common reason carriers give for why their offer is low. However, from a treatment standpoint, it does not matter what the damage was to the car. The doctor treating the injured person does not ask to see photographs of the car. He simply treats the injury. Some doctors will tell you that the force or energy from the collision must go somewhere, and oftentimes it creates the mechanism for the injury.

While there are some arguments to refute this excuse from the insurance company, at trial, the defense will blow up a photograph of the car to the sizes of a poster. They will argue to the jury that there was not property damage and that the person couldn’t possibly be injured. I must concede that sometimes the juries find this argument persuasive, and we have seen it used in some Charlottesville automobile injury cases.

Some medical providers will say there is no correlation between the damage and the injury. For example, when a football player is injured, the doctor does not ask to see the helmet, and people still believe that you can have a head or neck injury without damage to the football helmet.

Little or no property damage makes the case more difficult, but it does not make the case insurmountable if other evidence supports the case.

1) The injured person was contributory negligent

Insurance companies claim that the person injured was party to blame for the collision or accident. In Virginia, if the defendant/insurance company can prove that the injured party was negligent (failed to use ordinary care) and that the negligence was partly to blame for the accident, the injured party is not entitled to be compensated. This is a harsh rule and the insurance companies have tried to use this reasoning on many of the Charlottesville injury cases we have worked on.

A preview of more excuses the insurance company will likely give…

The reason this rule is so harsh (in reference to contributory negligence) is that if a jury finds that an injured party was at all responsible, then they can recover NOTHING, even if teh other party was vastly responsible for the injuries. Because the rule provides a way for the insurance company to avoid paying anything at all to an injured party, this is one of the first excuses they use even if their argument is a long shot.

A List of Some of the Most Common Auto Insurers in Virginia

Most directories do not check the credential of the attorney and will give best placement to the one paying the highest fees. If you have significant injuries and lost wages, y ou need to work with a qualified, experienced personal injury attorney, not the one who pays the most to an online directory.

The attorney you are “directed” to may not have any experience handling Virginia automobile injury cases. Some attorneys like to add “personal injury” to the types of cases they handle and then refer the case out for a fee but do not work on the case.

If you decide that you should hire a Virginia injury attorney, you need and deserve one that is experienced. For help in hiring the right Virginia lawyer for your automobile accident or other personal injury case, request a FREE copy of our book “A Crash Course in Virginia Automobile Injury Cases.” The first section of the book discusses “How to Hire a Personal Injury Attorney.”

Unfortunately the Afton Mountain area is often the site of serious automobile collisions. Much of the time these collisions are due to thick, low visibility fog that covers the mountain. There can be clear skies on either side of the mountain, but the Interstate will be covered by a cloud. If drivers are not used to these conditions and are not being alert, an accident can easily occur. The paper does not report if the collision was due to fog.

When a car crosses the median like this, another common cause is a driver falling asleep. The accident occurred at 5:50pm, but the fact that is was an early evening accident does not necessarily rule out falling asleep as a cause. Falling asleep while driving is negligent. If you are tired and nodding off, you should immediately find a place to stop and rest.

Another common cause for cars to cross the median is a sudden emergency, such as someone passing out or having a heart attack. These episodes are rare. In Virginia, if a driver is found to have a sudden emergency and causes a collision, it is possible that he or she may not be considered at fault for the collision due to the emergency. Often times, it needs to be determined if the driver was aware of the potential risk. For example, a person that frequently has seizures and continues to drive may not be covered by the sudden emergency doctrine.

The problem is that lawsuits like this add fuel to insurance companies and chamber of commerce groups that think the civil system has run amok. These types of cases cause people to have bad reactions to anyone who files a lawsuit. Just because you file a lawsuit does not mean you are a bad person. In fact, it could mean that you are not being treated fairly by an insurance company. While it may not seem that lawsuits like Ms. Lohan’s would have any affect on a Virginia personal injury lawsuit in Charlottesville, it indirectly can because it continues to denigrate all people who file lawsuits that are warranted and not frivolous.

Another interesting finding of the study shows that the incidence of plaintiff error is more significantly affected by variables such as the type of case being heard as opposed to “actor” variables which include the attorney’s gender and level of experience. According to the study, plaintiffs of personal injury and medical malpractice cases are the most likely to walk away from a trial with less than the defendant’s final settlement offer. In fact, medical malpractice plaintiffs are in error of going to trial in 80.8 percent of cases.

As a personal injury attorney handling cases in Charlottesville and across Virginia, I have some thoughts as to why this may be the case. First, juries have appeared to be much more conservative over the past 10-15 years. Second, the time to get a case to a jury often takes between 1-2 years. courts have back logs and criminal cases sometimes must take precedent. Third is cost. To try a case before a jury, you will likely need your family physicians to testify. That, coupled with the other expenses, means that at a minumum, you will need to spend a few thousand dollars. In more complex cases, the costs quickly go into the tens of thousands of dollars.

It is often a difficult and emotional choice to decide to settle. You are so personally involved that it is hard to see your case as a juror would. while I prepare my clients’ cases to be tried, and often try their cases, there is no doubt that sometimes the best choice is to resolve the matter before the actual trial.