Ray LaHood’s Blueprint to End Distracted Driving

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s crusade against distracted driving is getting a lot of federal money behind it.  $2.4 million is being used for a pilot program in Delaware and California called Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other.  Here is more of what Mr. LaHood is planning: 

• Promote distracted driving laws in the 11 states without such rules
• Encourage auto industry to develop and fine tune technology to help prevent distracted driving
• Work on driver education course material to educate younger drivers

You can find the official Blueprint here.  

Monday Morning News Round-Up

Here are the top stories we’ve been following:

• Maryland Workers’ Compensation Fund Could Be Privatized (courtesy Butschky, Ehlers & Butschky)

• How a truck accident victim prevailed after his insurance company refused to pay the bills:  A good description of what auto accident victims and their lawyers have to go through every day (courtesy MichiganAutoLaw)

• Best Time to Post Blog Entry is 11AM Monday Morning:  the title is a bit deceptive–really, the average blog gets the most traffic around 11:00 a.m., meaning that it needs to be posted before 11.  Heck, it could have been posted hours before.  But, this might have some meaning for other social media that reports the posting–for example, if you are trying to attract people to your blog post by putting up a link to it on your Facebook page (courtesy Larry Bodine LawMarketing Blog)

• Customizing the Acrobat X Toolba and Common Tools (courtesy Acrobat for Legal Professionals)

• PhotoCop and the Red Light of Admissibility:  covers some interesting questions of whether computer records (like red light camera pictures) are hearsay (courtesy Bow Tie Law)

Happy Monday!

~~John Cord

More Blogs from John Cord Law

Thank you for reading our blog.  If you find it interesting, give our other blogs a chance. We also publish the Maryland Car Accident Lawyer Blog.  Here are the stories for the past week:

• More On School Bus Accidents (exploring issues in school bus collisions, including seatbelts, driver inexperience, driver distraction, and roadway design defects)
• Why You Need Better Car Insurance (did you know that the worst of the worst drivers can still get insurance through MAIF?  It doesn’t matter how many DUIs or accidents they’ve been involved in, they can still get insurance.  And guaranteed, they are only getting the minimum (these are not responsible people!)).
• Bus And Taxi Accidents In Maryland (learn about the higher duty of care owed by bus drivers to their passengers–even before the passengers are fully on the bus).

And, don’t forget that we write a post every other Monday for Maryland’s legal newspaper, The Daily Record.  Find our posts (including a new one this upcoming Monday) at Generation J.D., a blog intended to provide advice for younger lawyers.

Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Waivers

Personal Injury Protection (PIP) is a key element to both physical and financial recovery after a Maryland automobile collision.  You PIP will pay for many things, mostly lost wages and medical bills, following an accident.  Importantly, your PIP will pay regardless of fault–even if you caused the collision, or if it was a single-car accident (and your insurance company will not raise your rates for using it).  Most people have the default $2,500.00 in PIP, though you can get up to $10,000 in no fault medical coverage from most Maryland insurance companies.

Let me explain why PIP is important.  A family of three (mom, dad and and a child) came to us for injuries from a car accident.  Mom and dad each had about $2,000 in medical bills, and the child had $5,000 in bills (she needed an MRI).  No lost wages.  After some workup, the settlement offers are $3,000 each for mom and dad, and $8,000 for the minor.  These are terrible offers (remember–every case is unique.  We’re going to have to file a lawsuit), but they are made even more terrible because the parents waived PIP.  That is, they told their insurance company that they didn’t want the protection of PIP.

There are many technical requirements to waive PIP. Essentially, it has to be a signed waiver, with specific text in a specific font and type. PIP waivers are valid for every successive policy renewal unless the insured rescinds the waiver in writing. The insurance companies typically don’t ask whether you want it every policy period once you waived–they just assume you don’t want it. But there are good reasons to change your mind.  Maybe you get a higher paying job. Maybe you become less risk-averse. Maybe you listened to the advice of your friendly Baltimore neighborhood lawyer (that’s me!).

Let’s assume the family wanted to accept the settlement offers.  We’ll also pretend a parallel universe where they did not waive PIP:

MOM/DAD

Without PIP

• $2,000 medical bills
• $3,000 settlement offer
• $0.00 PIP
• Attorneys’ fees (one-third):  $1,000
• Client Take Home:  $0.00 (all medical bills paid)

With PIP

• $2,000 medical bills
• $3,000 settlement offer
• $2,500 PIP
• Attorneys’ fees (one-third):  $1,000
• Client Take Home:  $2,000 (all medical bills paid)

CHILD

Without PIP

• $5,000 medical bills
• $8,000 settlement offer
• $0.00 PIP
• Attorneys’ fees (one-third):  $2,666.66
• Client Take Home:  $333.34 (all medical bills paid)

With PIP

• $5,000 medical bills
• $8,000 settlement offer
• $2,500 PIP
• Attorneys’ fees (one-third):  $2,666.66
• Client Take Home:  $2,833.34 (all medical bills paid)

You can see that PIP makes a big difference.  Without PIP, the accident victims get nothing or next-to-nothing. With a small amount of PIP, the medical bills get paid and the family can be compensated somewhat for what they went through–pain, discomfort, inconvenience of having to drive to appointments, etc….  We try not to think about the existence of PIP in determining whether we recommend a settlement–the value of a case does not depend on PIP, and jurors/judges don’t know whether a plaintiff has it or not. But, in extreme cases, it may make a lower offer more palatable for some clients.  In any event, higher PIP limits will increase a client’s take-home recovery.

One sidenote on waivers–a PIP waiver is not valid for minors under 16, who get the benefit of the default $2,500 when their parents waived PIP.  In the case described, the father signed the PIP waiver when the child was 14.  The accident happened when the child was 16, so she was not entitled to any PIP.

PIP only adds a small amount to your premium.  For your safety, don’t waive it.  For your safety, increase it to the maximum if you can.

• If you’re interested, the Maryland laws on PIP are found in MD. CODE ANN., INSURANCE §§ 19-501, 19-505, 19-506, 19-507, 19-508 and 19-513. Importantly, these provisions are interpreted in appellate court decisions.

Surveillance in Personal Injury Cases

By filing a Maryland lawsuit for personal injuries, whether for an automobile accident, trucking accident, or on-the-job injury, the plaintiff places his physical condition (and often his mental condition) at issue. No matter how complicated the case is, and no matter what the specific injuries are, the defenses are usually the same:

1. The plaintiff is not really hurt as badly as he is claiming; and
2. The plaintiff’s injuries were not caused by this accident.