Why Should Someone Else Help Pay For My Injuries?

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The Age-Old Question:

What should happen when one person is hurt by another?

The Answer:

The common law in the United States has evolved as an answer to that question over the last few hundred years. We certainly don’t want to criminally punish people for making a mistake, but we also know it’s not fair to let victim’s suffer more than they should. Those who cause harm should bear the cost of repairing that harm. The goal of a personal injury attorney is to put the victim back in the place that they were in prior to the accident. We only get one body, so there is no way to fully repair someone after suffering a catastrophic injury. Instead, the law offers money as the best available substitute it can come up with in an effort to make the injured party as close to whole as it can. That still leaves us with a problem; physical and emotional injuries can be extremely expensive, the at-fault party likely cannot afford to pay for your injuries. We don’t want your life to be ruined by your injury, but we also don’t want another person’s financial state to be devastated after making one mistake. That is where insurance comes in. We pay for insurance coverage so that we can afford to right the wrongs that we cause. Insurance is a system where we all pay in a little, so that the money is there when one of us needs that system to pay out a lot.

Our legal system enables us to enforce personal accountability by shifting the cost of an accident to the person who caused it. Then, our insurance system enables us to pay to heal the injured party without ruining the life of the person at fault. It’s a true win-win.

But are we Taking Advantage of Insurance Companies when we file claims?

Many people ask this question. The question I have is: do you feel that you are taking advantage of your television provider when you decide to turn on your TV? We pay insurance premiums monthly so that we will be protected from a catastrophic loss. We pay for TV monthly so that we can watch a television program should we choose to. We pay both of these bills whether we ever use it or not. Sometimes, we decide that we would like to watch a show. We pick up the remote without remorse because we have been paying for that exact service. Why would we then feel remorse when we are forced to call to make an insurance claim? Would it be better if we all just paid a company monthly for our entire lives for no reason whatsoever? The insurance industry is the only service industry that we pay and yet we hope that they do nothing for us.  Sounds like a pretty profitable business to get into.

Insurance companies know that they will occasionally have to pay out. They plan on that. That is why they charge the prices that they do. They want to accept this obligation. They are extremely aggressive in their advertising because they are not afraid of having to protect new people. They know that even after all of their claims, they are operating at an enormous profit. After all, by the time an insurance company is forced to pay for your injuries, odds are that both you, and the person who injured you, have been paying insurance premiums for many years. What’s more, insurance companies know that some people are told that it’s a bad thing to get an attorney involved. They love it when unrepresented parties attempt to negotiate a fair settlement with them. They use their entire team of attorneys to keep your recovery at the low end of what they think is fair. At the end of the day, they are a business, and a very profitable one. You should not hesitate to seek the help of an experienced personal injury attorney in St. George, Utah when you have been injured in an accident.

A reminder to keep your eyes on the road!

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As many of you know, Utah has been taking great steps in an effort to minimize cell phone and other distractions behind the wheel.  In fact, our recent post titled Explaining the New Cell Phone and Driving Law outlines Utah’s new statute.

The following video is an effective way to convey this very important message.  It is only 90 seconds long, but well worth a watch.  Please share this message with those around you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHixeIr_6BM

Am I a Bad Person if I Sue Somebody?

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We get it. Lawyers are best used as the blunt of a good joke right? You are hesitant to get an attorney involved after an injury because you have been told that we live in a “sue-happy” world. Many people associate hiring an attorney, or bringing a lawsuit on your own, with being contentious. What’s even worse, is that some people rely on the incorrect assumption that if you sue, you are looking to get something for nothing. Until you have been injured by the actions of another person, you are never forced to question this flawed logic. So naturally, most people don’t ever realize that such negative associations are completely unfounded. In reality, hiring an attorney to represent you after an injury is the most efficient system we have for making victims whole again. The legal system in the United States is the product of hundreds of years of policy and lawmaking. It is based on the best ideas that our country’s brightest minds have been able to come up with for righting wrongs.

Imagine a World Without Lawsuits.

Think about it this way, imagine if there were no lawsuits at all in the U.S. Happy place right? No. Not at all. Let’s say you go for a nice Sunday morning drive in your new car. As you pass through an intersection, BOOM! Another car runs their red-light and T-bones your car on the driver’s side. An ambulance comes. The other driver’s airbag deploys and he suffers minimal injuries. You are stuck with a broken left arm and a few broken ribs. As you are being wheeled into the ambulance, you hear the other driver, Bobby, informing the police that he ran the red-light because he was in a hurry to go get a burger. He hopes you get better soon. The officer sites him for a traffic violation for breaking the law by running a red light. He will have to pay a few hundred dollars to the state. For now though, he hurries along to go eat his burger.

In a world where you could not sue, the other driver would owe you nothing. You would bear all the costs of your own injuries regardless of whose fault the accident was. A lawsuit is simply the way that you get a court to recognize a right you have. You have the right to be made whole after another person hurts you. If you are not hurt, you cannot be awarded anything in a lawsuit. To return to our hypothetical, in the months following the accident, you would waste countless hours obtaining medical treatment from all varieties of medical professionals in an effort to get back to the level of health that you were in prior to the accident. Your new car is ruined. You likely would have been forced to miss work because of your injuries. Missing work may prevent you from being able to pay medical bills that have reached outrageous amounts when considering the ambulance, the surgery, doctor’s visits, chiropractic and physical therapy. An accident like this would derail a life physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially. The law exists so that the burden of these costs can be passed to the correct party.

To take this point one step further, if the law did not hold parties responsible when they injured others, would the world be a safe place? How could you even dare to get on the road when everyone around you knows that they can do whatever they want and they will not have to pay for the consequences? You could not proceed through an intersection on a green light. You would have to stop and look both ways because you would never know if the other drivers were as concerned for the safety of others as you are. This problem would apply to much more than just driving. Companies would make unsafe products because their profits are higher when their safety costs are lower. Employees would be forced to work in unsafe conditions for that same reason. We could no longer rely on others to act in our best interests. Our expectations of reasonable safety would be shattered.

Conclusion:

We enjoy a good lawyer joke as much as the next guy, but the truth is that hiring an attorney after an auto accident is the best way to ensure a full recovery. It is very rare that a case actually ends up in court. It’s more likely that an attorney will be able to work with the at-fault party’s insurance company to resolve your case fairly and efficiently without ever having to file a lawsuit. Visit the free legal resources tab at stglegal.com to find answers to related questions.

explaining the utah cell phone and driving law

Explaining the Utah Cell Phone & Driving Law

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There has been a lot of confusion regarding the new cell phone law in Utah. Lawmakers attempted to allow some behaviors that they felt were not as dangerous as others. This attempt at avoiding an all-out ban on cell phone use while driving has left some drivers unsure about what conduct is acceptable. The following is the relevant section of the new statute:

Utah Code: Title 41/Chapter 6A/Section 1716:

(2) Except as provided in Subsection (3), a person may not use a handheld wireless communication device while operating a moving motor vehicle on a highway in this state to manually:

(a) write, send, or read a written communication, including:

(i) a text message;

(ii) an instant message; or

(iii) electronic mail;

(b) dial a phone number;

(c) access the Internet;

(d) view or record video; or

(e) enter data into a handheld wireless communication device.

(3) Subsection (2) does not prohibit a person from using a handheld wireless communication device while operating a moving motor vehicle:

(a) when using a handheld communication device for voice communication;

(b) to view a global positioning or navigation device or a global positioning or navigation application;

(c) during a medical emergency;

(d) when reporting a safety hazard or requesting assistance relating to a safety hazard;

(e) when reporting criminal activity or requesting assistance relating to a criminal activity;

(f) when used by a law enforcement officer or emergency service personnel acting within the  course and scope of the law enforcement officer’s or emergency service personnel’s employment; or

(g) to operate:

(i) hands-free or voice operated technology; or

(ii) a system that is physically or electronically integrated into the motor vehicle.

 Our Summary

Once you break it down, it’s not that complicated. The main emphasis of the law is to entirely eliminate data entry while driving; that means no typing. No typing a text, email, or even a phone number. It also bans surfing the web and recording or viewing video. However, Utah drivers can still answer calls, make calls without dialing, and use their g.p.s.

If you have other questions related to Utah Auto Law, check out our free legal resources tab at stglegal.com.

safety town graduates

Safety Town 2014 – City of St. George, Utah

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Herbert Hoover, the 31st President of the United State once said, “Children are our most valuable resource.”

At McMullin Injury Law, we could not agree more.  We recognize the value of education and in particular the value of educating our youth.  For that reason, we are proud to once again be associated with the City of St. George and their 2014 youth safety program Safety Town.

The safety town program is very special as it teaches “important, life-long lessons about safety.”  The program educates our kids on pedestrian safety, internet safety, bike/scooter safety, stranger danger, drug awareness, fire safety, bullying and more.

As a graduate of Safety Town, our attorney Anthony McMullin, is fully aware of the fun and education that comes from attending this program.  In fact, even in his “old age” Mr. McMullin remembers attending Safety Town.  These memories include, riding little push cars around the painted streets of Safety Town, meeting McGruff the Crime Dog, and enjoying cookies and orange drink from the local McDonalds.

Kudos to the City of St. George for sponsoring and putting on this great program for our kids.  If you would like more information on Safety Town and how to get your kids

Safety Town Graduates

A few of the 2014 City of St. George Safety Town Graduates

2014 Saftey Town

Anthony McMullin, attorney at McMullin Injury Law and 2014 Safety Town Mayor.