Articles Posted in Personal Injury

Traumatic brain injuries are common in car accidents, falls, and other activities. According to the Brain Injury Association of America, 2.4 million Americans sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) every year. Yet TBI is often never diagnosed or treated. People who strike their head in a minor car wreck or fall sometimes laugh it off. “I just hit my head. I’m okay.”

Possible TBI should never be treated lightly. Impacts to the head can damage the brain, and the swelling that follows an injury can sometimes cause further damage. Even a minor injury can cause difficulty learning or remembering new information, dizziness, vision problems and other effects. Some symptoms can even become permanent if not treated. A TBI may even increase your risk of developing Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia.

How do you know if you have suffered a traumatic brain injury? You are at risk any time you have experienced a significant impact to the head. Sometimes striking the head is not even necessary to cause a TBI. A whiplash-type impact can develop enough force to cause damage to the brain. You should always seek medical treatment if you have experienced an impact to the head in a car accident, or a fall from more than three feet, or any impact severe enough to stun you, even momentarily.

If I lend my car to someone else and they cause a crash, am I liable as the owner of the car?

Yes! Idaho Code 49-2417 provides that the owner of a motor vehicle is liable and responsible for the death or injury to a person or property resulting from negligence in the operation of his motor vehicle.

“Whiplash” is a catch-all phrase for injuries caused by a sudden back-and-forth jerking motion of the head. It is common in car wrecks, but it can also happen in contact sports and heavy metal concerts.

The actual injuries that may occur because of the whiplash motion include strain of muscles in the neck and back, damage to the cervical discs and ligaments, and nerve root damage. The cervical vertebrae can also break or dislocate, but we don’t usually call that “whiplash.” We call that a broken neck.

Symptoms of whiplash may appear instantly, or may wait two or three days before they show up. These symptoms include neck pain and stiffness, headaches, shoulder pain or pain between the shoulder blades, low back pain, and pain or numbness in the arm or hand. Because the whiplash motion may also have caused a minor brain injury, you may also experience dizziness, difficulty concentrating, or memory problems. You may also have trouble sleeping, or feel fatigued.

I was riding in my friend’s car and he crashed because he was texting while driving and now I’m hurt. I heard that Idaho has a guest statute that precludes me from suing my friend for my damages. Is that true?

It’s not true! Idaho’s guest statute is found in Idaho Code 49-2415. The statute states that a guest in the motor vehicle cannot bring an action against the owner or operator of the motor vehicle unless the accident was intentional or caused by intoxication or gross negligence. However, Idaho’s appellate courts ruled this statue unconstitutional in Thompson v. Hagan, 96 Idaho 19 (1974). Yes, you can sue the owner and/or operator for the negligent conduct that caused your damages.

I am over 18 years old and I borrowed by friend’s car. I then lent the car to a 15 year old friend to drive. My 15 year old friend crashed, am I liable?

Yes! Idaho Code 49-2416 provides that every owner of a motor vehicle who knowingly permits a minor to drive and any person who gives or furnishes a motor vehicle to a minor under 16 years old, shall be jointly and severally liable with the minor for any damage caused by the negligence of the minor in driving the vehicle.

Every personal injury attorney in Idaho has heard this from a client. “I was injured in a wreck, but I know the guy. I don’t want to sue him, just his insurance company.”

Unfortunately, as understandable as that desire is, insurance doesn’t work that way. A person who injures another through negligence is liable to pay damages to the injured person. This is so whether or not he has insurance. Most people, however, don’t have the ability to pay for the injuries they might cause. This was true throughout history, but it became a big problem when we invented the automobile. Henry Ford invented the most efficient method ever for causing major injury through negligence. Cars were creating so many injured people, and so many were never getting compensated for those injuries, that we finally required that all car owners carry liability insurance.

Liability insurance is a contract between the car owner and the insurance company. The insurance company agrees to pay any amounts, up to the limits of the policy, that the car owner or driver is legally obligated to pay as a result of his negligence in operating the car. If you get injured through the negligence of a driver with insurance, it is the driver that owes you the money, not his insurance company. You must prove that the driver was negligent and owes you damages; then, and only then, is the insurance company required to pay.

The most important thing is, go see a doctor and get better.　 There is time later to worry about the legal issues surrounding your accident. Also, getting to the doctor quickly may help your case.

It is common for certain kinds of injuries in relatively minor accidents to go unnoticed at the time. Just as sometimes your muscles don’t hurt until the day after a workout, sometimes the symptoms of a soft-tissue injury, a whiplash, or a brain injury don’t appear until the next day, or even longer. This is a well-established fact, and it should not hurt your case at all if you said at the time you were not injured.

That is, so long as your doctor is able to relate your injury to the accident. In an Idaho personal injury case, your lawyer must be able to prove that your injuries were caused by the accident. This requires that a doctor testify that the accident caused the injury.

Husband and wife were driving/riding on a motorcycle and were involved in a collision with a car; wife sustained fatal injuries.　 Through a series of additional very unfortunate events, not all of wife’s medical bills were timely billed to her insurance company for payment.　 The at-fault driver of the car only had $50,000.00 in insurance to cover wife’s damages.　 Wife’s unpaid medical bills were approximately $90,000.00 and the insurance company that paid the bills that were timely submitted had a subrogated interest of approximately $50,000.00.　 Any recovery for wife’s estate seemed dim.　 I was able to get the entire $90,000.00 written off and the $50,000.00 was compromised to $10,000.00.　 The wife’s survivors were tearfully grateful for the recovery and compromises obtained.　 This result will forever be with me as a case where I made a big difference for my client.　 Stephen Muhonen

You took a car trip over the holidays, and got in a wreck. Now you are recovering from personal injuries caused by someone who lives in another state. It looks like you will have to sue to get compensation. What do you do?

You will probably have to sue in some other state. In all likelihood, the courts in your home state lack “jurisdiction” over the responsible driver. The U.S. Constitution and state laws make it difficult to drag someone into court in a distant state with which she has few connections.

If you must sue, you will have to find a court that has jurisdiction over the responsible person. Under the laws in almost every state, that means the state in which the responsible person resides, or the state where the accident occurred. Every state has a law which allows its courts to exercise jurisdiction over persons who come into the state and cause an injury there.

Clients should look for and retain an attorney who they feel they can freely and openly communicate with on all aspects of their case.　 The case should be viewed and handled as a team; the process requires teamwork and candid communication, with all involved working together towards an understood and concerted goal.　 Stephen Muhonen