This article discusses bicycle laws in the state of Utah.
National Laws
National bicycle laws vary from state to state. In Utah, there is no statewide requirement for minors or adults to wear a helmet. However, some counties and cities require the wearing of a bicycle helmet, regardless of the state law. There are many laws that pertain to the riding of bicycles in certain areas or locations. If they are riding on a public street, cyclists are required to obey the rules of the road just like any other motor vehicle; they are required to indicate when turning, stop at red lights, etc.
Cyclists on the road are considered the same as a motor vehicle, and therefore have to obey all road related laws.
Helmet Laws
Helmet laws in the United States for bicycles vary from state to state. The age can also vary for the requirement of wearing a helmet. For example, there is no statewide requirement for bicyclists to wear a helmet in Texas, minor or adult. However, some states such as Houston and Fort Worth require all bicyclists under the age of 18 to wear a helmet.
Local laws
There are local laws in some counties or cities that are not present in the state law. For example, in Washington County in Utah, there is no requirement for cyclists to ride on the street, instead of the sidewalk. There used to be a clear-cut law in Washington County, “it shall be unlawful for any person to ride any bicycle upon any sidewalk within the city, except sidewalks that may be designated for bicycle riding by the city council”. However, this law has been removed for the time being; this indicates that cyclists may now ride on sidewalks that do not indicate the allowance or denial or riding. In other words, cyclists can ride on sidewalks, simply because there is no law that prevents them from doing so. Because this law has been removed recently, some citizens may not know about it and get irritated if they are walking on the sidewalk and a cyclist is riding on the same sidewalk. If someone doesn’t know the current laws, they may become frustrated with certain situations.
Safety
As with all laws, the intent of road laws pertaining to motorists and cyclists is to keep the roads safe. Cyclists are to obey all traffic laws as if they were driving a motor vehicle. Cyclists, just like motorists, will be given a ticket for violating road laws. Cyclists are encouraged to ride single file but are permitted to ride side by side, but no more than two side by side.
The requirement for cyclists riding at night is that the cyclist must have a white light that can be seen from 500 feet away and a rear red reflector. Also, wearing light colors, even reflective colors at night is highly encouraged.
Common Problems
There is a common problem that presents itself when a bicyclist who is not wearing a helmet is hit by a car and has a head injury. If the county, city or state requires all persons to wear a helmet while riding a bicycle, this person could lose their chance at compensation due to their negligence of the helmet law. This bicyclist still may be able to receive some compensation for the accident, but because they were negligent in connection with the accident, it will be very difficult for them to receive such compensation. One way this can be done is by proving that the head injury would have occurred even with the helmet, but that task is very difficult to prove.
When it comes to liability, the person who caused the crash is at fault and most likely has to pay for the damages. If both parties are at fault, it can get complicated; such as a cyclist not wearing a helmet when they are supposed to, and a car crashes into them.
With the recent removal of the bicycle sidewalk law in Washington County, problems can occur when citizens are unaware of recent laws. This can cause problems on the road or even cause accidents.
Because cyclists are much smaller than cars, motorists sometimes don’t see cyclists.
Bicycle Crashes
There is good news and bad news about bicycle crashes. The bad news is that 45% of bicycle crashes happen in or near an intersection. The good news is around 59% of bicycle crashes involve on the bicycle and the bicycle rider. There are still collisions with cyclists and cars, though; 11% of bicycle crashes involve a cyclist and a car.
People cause accidents in many different ways, but typically the cause can be categorized into a few basic careless mistakes that even good drivers make from time to time. Being aware of the increased probability of a collision that these actions create can help drivers prevent dangerous and expensive consequences. These top five mistakes are common among the best of us, but are easy to avoid. A little extra time and focus can save a lot of money, stress, and likely even save a life.
Distracted Driving
One of the most common causes of serious accidents is distracted driving. Distracted driving may also be the most common cause of all accidents in general. Distracted driving accidents are serious because when a driver is not focused, he or she is not able to slow before a collision, while a focused driver might be able to slow enough to decrease the impact of the crash. Some of the more common forms of distracted driving are texting while driving, making a phone call, or using a cell phone in any way. In Utah, the new cell phone law says that use of your cell phone that requires the use of your hands while driving is illegal. To clarify, scrolling social media, surfing the web, or sending a text are clear violations of Utah law and prime examples of dangerous distracted driving behavior. However, use of a Bluetooth device, brief or hands-free use of GPS, or voice-activated features are allowed while driving in the state. There are numerous other ways a driver could be distracted while driving: eating while driving, getting distracted by something on the roadside, attempting to multitask during a commute, or a passenger causing a commotion in the vehicle. If a driver is distracted by anything inside or outside the vehicle, their reaction time is severely compromised, potentially leading to serious accidents, injury, and expense. A phone call or text might seem urgent at the moment but is never worth the risk. Being a focused driver can be difficult, but it makes a big difference in your safety and the safety of those around you. It is wise to practice observing objects at a distance as you drive, or try talking out loud about what you see and how you are reacting as a safe driver. Such mindfulness practices can make focused driving a little easier.
Shooting gaps
The roads can often get quite crowded and busy in St. George and other Utah cities such as Cedar City, and people often grow impatient and try what is referred to as “shooting a gap,” or darting their car out into traffic while changing lanes, merging, or turning, although there is not actually sufficient time or distance. This is a very common misstep and an unsafe alternative to waiting for a larger clear break in traffic before making a safe maneuver. Shooting gaps can be especially dangerous when a driver is making a left-hand turn, whether at an intersection or from private property out into a main road or highway. Left-hand turns are generally the most dangerous turns to make because they often require a driver to cross a higher number of lanes of moving traffic to make the turn than a right-hand turn does. Left-hand turns that are rushed and poorly judged cause accidents that can happen at stop signs, traffic lights, or simply while a driver attempts exiting a parking lot. Often drivers may misjudge speeds and distances of oncoming vehicles. If a driver pulls out in front of an oncoming vehicle close enough, according to the Utah law, “so as to constitute an immediate hazard,” then that driver will be at fault for the accident, not the driver that could not stop in time to avoid the collision. The driver “shooting the gap” will be cited for a collision in such a case. A driver passing on the main roadway or highway has the right of way and must be allowed time and space to safely make their way through. Additionally, the driver traveling straight has the legal right in the state of Utah to assume that other drivers will not pull out or cause a hazard in the roadway front of them. Hence, pulling out in front of another driver or “cutting them off,” without giving them time to slow down and avoid a collision puts you at fault for an accident. Whether the driver traveling straight has time to slow, or hits the other vehicle at full speed, the vehicle “shooting the gap” will still be at fault for the accident, by way of causing an immediate hazard in the roadway. It is best practice as a safe driver to wait patiently for large, generous gaps in traffic before pulling out to turn or merge. Patience can help drivers to steer clear many dangerous and avoidable accidents and injuries.
Speeding
Speeding creates circumstances in which the severity of accidents that occur is heightened considerably, and perhaps more importantly, speeding delays the time that people have in order to respond to one another’s actions in traffic. Speed limits are put in place on roadways for a reason; the specified speed is determined to be safe for the conditions that are typically present on that particular road. Utah law actually dictates that drivers must drive at a reasonable speed for the current road conditions, with the marked speed limit set as an absolute maximum. For example, in construction zones, heavy business traffic, limited visibility, inclement weather, or other dangerous conditions, a driver may not legally assume that he or she can always drive at the speed limit as posted automatically. Drivers are legally required to slow down and observe hazards in the roadway before proceeding at a cautious speed. If a driver is traveling at a speed faster than reasonable for the conditions of the road, he or she creates danger for everyone around, including passengers, pedestrians, and other drivers. If one driver stops suddenly in front of another driver, the second driver will need time to react quickly. In addition, drivers in the proximity of one another might reasonably expect each other to be driving more slowly according to the speed limit, and then one driver could cut another driver off inadvertently, causing injury or accident to one or both parties. Speeding can often cause, and ultimately worsen, many different types of dangerous scenarios and collisions.
Cutting it too close at stop lights.
Accidents at traffic lights can be very severe and traumatic, causing brutal damage to vehicles and patients. Vehicles are often t-boned in intersections on major roads, causing serious injury, or perhaps even fatality. This occurs when the front end of one vehicle collides with the driver- or passenger-side door of another car, directly where a person is positioned in the vehicle. These particular types of accidents can cause major damage and injury, even if the impact is not necessarily great, simply because of the proximity of the impact to the position of the driver or passenger sitting in the car. Accidents at intersections are sometimes caused by distracted driving, leading a driver to run a red light. But oftentimes, the driver is not distracted at all, but instead, trying to speed through a yellow light and avoid stopping at the intersection altogether. When this happens, things typically play out the same way each time: a light turns yellow, and an approaching vehicle speeds up instead of slowing down as they come to and travel through the intersection. In the seconds that follow this vehicle’s acceleration, the traffic light may turn red, and the crossing traffic may begin to proceed into the intersection, and that is exactly prime time for a dangerous accident to easily occur. One helpful tip here for defensive driving is to treat a green light as you would a stop sign and take a quick glance in either direction to make sure the roadway is clear and that traffic is stopped completely on both sides before you proceed to cross the intersection. This tip applies especially if the light has only just turned green. Checking the intersection in this manner before proceeding at a green light can prevent a great number of accidents, as can slowing and stopping each time you approach a yellow light. As long as you can safely stop in the remaining distance before you reach the intersection, you should always stop when a traffic light turns yellow.
Following too Closely
The number one most common type of accident on our roadways is a rear-end collision. Rear-end collisions can be caused by a combination of other common causes of accidents: sometimes a driver is distracted while driving; sometimes a driver is speeding; and sometimes a driver is following too closely for the conditions of the road. In short, this means the driver does not leave enough space between their vehicle and the vehicle in front of them, in order to safely see the conditions ahead of their car with enough time to react in case of a hazard. Each driver needs enough space in front of their vehicle to respond to emergency conditions by slowing in time to avoid a collision. It is wise to remember that you always want to follow the vehicle driving ahead at a safe distance, specifically by leaving at least three seconds between your vehicle and the one ahead of you, in cases of perfect driving conditions, according to Utah driving law. However, it is equally important to keep in mind that for added interfering driving conditions, such as rain, snow, fog, construction, heavy traffic, or even stress, Utah law actually requires drivers to create an additional one second of distance for each hazardous or distracting condition. These laws are in place to allow drivers the likelihood of having enough time to slow and stop in the case of a hazard in the road that may cause an accident, particularly a rear-end collision. If you do have the misfortune of causing a rear-end collision, it is very likely that you will be cited for following too closely, and perhaps even other traffic violations as well. Although there may be other external reasons that the rear-end collision occurred, the citation for following too closely is somewhat of a default. However, you may have been able to stop had there been more distance when those other outside complications or hazards arose in the roadway or traffic. In almost every case of a rear-end collision, a driver is cited for following too closely, and these accidents are all too common even for the most experienced drivers.
These are the five most common causes of car accidents. By being aware and avoiding these common pitfalls and mistakes, you can be a safer driver. Hopefully, you will be able to take comfort in knowing that a few simple tweaks to your driving habits can keep your loved ones safe, your driving record clean, and your hard-earned money in your pocket.
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5 Tricks You Should Know About Getting Your Car Fixed After A Crash
After a crash, where do you start? How do you make sure to get your property damage claim handled properly and make sure you are not taken advantage of by the insurance company? You do have options when making a claim and getting your car fixed that you may not even be aware of. The purpose of this article is to educate you about at least 5 tips that you could benefit from when you need to use your auto insurance. As an insurance consumer, there are things that you should know about how to get optimum benefits from your auto insurance after a crash. Car Insurance coverage is a service that you pay for each month but you rarely ever use, so most of us are not experts.
As a personal injury attorney, I handle hundreds of car accident claims per year. Here are 5 tips I’ve picked up over the years: (all 5 of these tips are described in full detail below).
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1. You can choose which insurance company to use.
2. You can pick the auto body shop of your choice.
3. You can choose whether to fix the car, or keep the money.
4. You can choose to keep the car after a total loss or not.
5. You do not have to accept their offer.
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#1 You Can Choose Which Insurance to Use After a Crash
You can choose which insurance company to use if you are not at fault for the accident. So if somebody else is at fault, you are going to have a choice about which insurance company you are going to go through to get your car fixed. There are pros and cons to each one. You could go through your own insurance company. You are paying for that insurance and they have a contract to provide you with coverage. If you have comprehensive and collision coverage on your vehicle, you have been paying for that every month. However if you only have liability coverage on your vehicle, you will not have the choice. You will have to go through the at-fault driver’s insurance.
If you go through your own, they owe you through what is outlined in your insurance policy. This means that your deductible will apply. Most people have a $500 deductible on their policy which means that your insurance will pay the total cost of repair to your vehicle minus the deductible amount. The deductible amount of $500 would be your responsibility. So the proof going through your own insurance is that it is a little quicker and little easier because there is no question about liability before the claim is paid. The con is that you have to pay the deductible.
When you go through the other parties insurance, they will need to make a liability determination first. If their insured admits that they were at fault, it make things a little quicker, but if they don’t then you have to wait for a police report and a recorded statement. This process may take a week or two for the other insurance company to admit that they are at fault for the accident. Once they do though the advantage is that now you don’t have to come up with the deductible. They owe you money to fix your car through tort. A tort is a civil wrong that means when we don’t have a contractual relationship but one person owes a legal duty to another, that is a tort. So when you go through the at-fault insurance, it takes longer but there is no deductible.
However if you do go through your own insurance, when it is determined that you are not at-fault, your insurance company will reimburse you the amount of your deductible. This happens because the at-fault insurance company has paid your insurance company back the amount that they paid for your expenses. Some people might ask, “Why would I go through my own insurance company? This will cause my premiums to go up.” Premiums go up based on fault. The insurance company is trying to assess future risk. They don’t go up based on claims. If you make a claim and you are not at fault for the accident, your insurance will likely not to go up. That’s because your insurance company is going to get back all of the money they paid out for you from the other company. If you have a good insurance company often times you can ask them to front the deductible, in other words, you would not be “loaning” the amount of the deductible for the repairs because they will get that money back anyway. Car accident attorneys can explain this idea for fully if you call 435-673-9990.
#2 You Can Choose Which Shop to Use
Often times, the insurance company that you go through has a preferred auto repair shop that they use. They may have two or three options and they will give you the name and address of those shops and recommend that you use them. You can choose to use their suggestion but you don’t have too. It may be the quick and easy thing to do because the shop is used to working with your insurance and they are familiar with their way of doing business. For this reason, this shop is motivated to keep costs down to please the insurance company. Often these shops are reputable companies and they do good enough work because the insurance company doesn’t want shoddy work but they are definitely motivated to give the lowest bids possible to keep getting future work coming from that insurance company. You do have the right to take your car to the shop of your choice however, the insurance company may require that the repairs are fixed for the same amount that their shop bid or that their adjuster bid.
Some insurance companies may require that you obtain bids from three different shops for the repairs and then they will approve the median amount. If this is the case, once you have the bids, you can take the car to the shop you choose but they will need to complete the repairs for the approved amount. St. George Utah lawyers can provide more information if you call McMullin Injury Law. The insurance company owes you more than just the cost of repair. They also owe you cash for the amount that your car has depreciated due to the accident. In Utah, this is called diminution in value damages. For more on that, click here.
#3 You Can Choose to Fix It or Not
You can actually choose to fix your car or not. If your car is not totaled but it is damaged, but you prefer the cash rather than the repair, you have that option. Let’s say your car has $2,000 worth of damage but it is still drivable and the cosmetic issue isn’t something that bothers you. You can opt to take the money and not have the repair done. They owe you that money whether you get the car repaired or not. You could also have a bid from a shop that is high and then take the car to a friend or someone that will do the work for much less and then pocket the difference. That is your choice. If you do decide to take the money and not get the repairs done, the insurance company may exclude that portion of your car from any future repair in case another accident were to occur and damage the same area of the car. Another fact to be aware of if that if you have a lienholder, or lender, on your auto then you will probably need to get the repairs done. If you do not, you may encounter a problem when you try to sell the car. Body damage causes the value to go down and may actually cause you to be “upside down” on your auto loan. Meaning you owe more than the car is worth.
If you own the car free and clear you certainly do not have to make the repairs as long as the car is safe and can pass inspection. If the car is older and the damage incurred is minimal, you may consider not even turning a claim in. If the amount of damage is below your deductible amount anyway and the accident is your fault, there is no need to contact your insurance company to get your own car fixed. However if you caused damage to another car, you will definitely need to make a report to your own insurance.
#4 You Can Choose To Keep the Car or Not
If your car is totaled in an accident, you can choose to keep the car or not. What this means is that if your car is damaged and the repair estimate comes back higher than the value of your vehicle, then the insurance company, whether it’s the at-fault company or your own, has the option to pay you value of your vehicle. They can do that, it is their option. If they do choose to do that, they will run an evaluation, or a fair market analysis, and come back with a value and make you an offer. They may or may not be low on that offer and you may have to negotiate with them as well and prove that the car is worth more. For instance they may not have considered that your car has very low miles or you had made special upgrades to it that made its value go up. But that’s not the point, the point is whether or not you want to keep the car. Let’s say your car is worth five grand. They are going to pay you five grand but maybe that car can still run. Even though it is totaled and even though it has major damage it can still get around. Or maybe you want to take the tires off of it or salvage the parts. Whatever that reason might be, you have the right to keep it. You can have the insurance company deduct their salvage value from their offer. So if their offer is $5,000 and their salvage value is $500, they would give you a check for $4,500 and instead of them picking the car up, you would keep the car. Keep in mind that if you plan on driving the car, it will need to be able to pass inspection and be insurable. Your own insurance company would probable exclude the existing damage from future comprehensive or collision coverage unless the repairs are made at some point. Personal Injury lawyers in Cedar City can provide more information.
#5 You Don’t Have to Accept Their Offer
This goes back to a total loss of your vehicle. Just because they say they figured out your car is worth $4,000 and they will send you a check in the mail, doesn’t mean that you have to accept that amount. That is not the end of the discussion. You have to agree. You are making a deal where both sides need to agree on what your car is worth. If they are offering you $4,000 and you think your car is worth more then you will have to go through the effort of proving how much your car is worth. Facts that could affect the value of your car would be details like extremely low mileage, upgrades by the manufacturer of yourself, custom paint jobs or limited edition automobiles. Any of these factors could increase the value of your car and the insurance company needs to be aware of them. If you have brought these details to the adjusters attention and the final bid is still too low, then you could contact a local attorney and they could help you figure out how to provide proof of the value of your car.
This article has discussed some facts that will enable you as the insured to negotiate wisely on your behalf. Being involved in a car accident is inconvenient and troublesome but knowing these facts can hopefully relieve some of the stress that accompanies the whole process. You can choose to use your own insurance company or the at-fault drivers. You can choose an auto repair shop that you feel comfortable with. You have the option to fix the damage to your car or keep the money and not fix it as long as it is safe to do so. If you car is totaled, you can keep the car if you want to. And finally if the offer for the repairs or total price of the auto replacement comes back too low, you don’t have to accept it. If you can prove that the settlement amounts are too low, they can be adjusted. If you need counsel in any of these areas, a qualified personal injury attorney can answer your questions. And the good news about that is that most PI attorneys offer an initial consultation for free. This makes it easy for you to get your questions answered.
To see our full list of free advice topics relating to car accidents, click here.
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5 Tricks Insurance Companies Use to Pay you Nothing
Insurance companies are not evil, they are just really good at their job. Their business model is to as much money in as possible through premiums, and then pay as little out as possible through claims. It is a very profitable business model. When you get in a crash, you are a novice with a squirt gun, and you are facing an experienced pro with a bazooka. This article breaks down 5 of the most common tricks insurance companies use to justify paying you nothing on your claim.
Trick #1 The Good Guy Approach
When a claim gets reported, insurance adjusters may reach out to you right away. They will be extremely friendly and seem quite helpful and try to make everything very easy for you. This sounds like a great thing, and it could be a great thing. Their job is to make you feel comfortable and to gain your trust. At a time when you are distressed and may be in pain, this is a welcome idea that you will have the help of someone that has your best interest in mind. Unfortunately, at the end of this helpful rainbow, there may be no pot of gold. Possibly just a bag of empty promises and perhaps even downright lies. What happens is the adjuster might say something like, “We are so sorry this happened, we want to take care of this for you and handle it the quickest way possible so you can get on with your life. We are willing to go ahead and pay your medical bills and then we’ll actually give you additional thousand dollars.” This is an early attempt to settle the claim with a low offer. To some people, one thousand dollars may seem like a lot of money. They are grateful and pretty excited to accept that. Then the insurance company will out a form to sign and return to them before they will issue the check to the claimant. That form is actually a release of liability that closes the case. Once that is signed that’s the end of the case. It doesn’t matter what expenses come up after that point. The claimant might even be out of work for another year because of their injury but that is all they are going to get because the release was already signed. Though this initial offer from the insurance company may have seemed generous at the time, as time goes on, the claimant may realize that all of the bills were not in or themselves or other passengers that were in the car and are still in pain and wish that they would have waited a bit longer to be certain of what the long range effects of the accident would be.
If you feel that you are being rushed or pressured to accept an offer from the at-fault insurance company to quickly, you do have the right to say that you need more time. If you feel like you are not being treated fairly or that the adjuster is not listening to you, it would be helpful to you to consult a personal injury attorney. Most P.I. attorneys offer initial consultations for free. This would give you the opportunity to ask questions and decide what type of settlement would be fair and reasonable in your situation.
Trick #2 Taking a Recorded Statement
Obtaining a recorded statement in not so much a trick, but insurance companies are going to want to take a statement from all the key parties involved in the accident. This is an effective method for them to preserve the record of what happened. It is very helpful to them to get a recorded statement that may help them prove that their insured was only partially at fault or not at fault at all.
Because this initial statement is important and it is not your own insurance company doing the interview, it might be better to wait a little bit before you actually give your recorded statement. Allow yourself some time to make sure that you’re not emotional at the time. You also need to allow enough time to pass to be sure that you don’t have pain from injuries that you were not aware that you had. Sometimes aches and pains are not evident until a day or two after the accident. If you gave a statement right after the accident stating that you were fine and had no pain or injuries and then woke up the next morning with a stiff neck or bruised area on your body, the insurance company may question if you are telling the truth. If they call you for the statement immediately after the accident, you could state that you were not up to dealing with it at the time and then call them back the next day. You have the right to take more time. You may even have the right to refuse to make a recorded statement in some cases. This is something that an attorney could advise yours about.
If you are going to make a statement, it is a good idea to plan ahead what you will say. Write down some notes including the events that led to the accident and the facts about what happened before, during and after. Be clear and stick to the facts only. Statements like, “This is happening at a really bad time right now” or ” I can’t handle one more bill”, may make you seem desperate and very eager to settle and you may get a very low offer. Remember just stick to the facts. Include the names and information of any witnesses that were at the scene of the accident and don’t minimize your pain or injuries.
In some instances, it will be necessary to make a statement soon after the accident so the claim process can begin. Just Remember that your recorded statements can be good opportunities to get you to say something wrong or to trip you up and say something that you don’t mean or that you didn’t understand on the record. They will then be able to use those statements against you later. When you do make your statement, be honest and clear about what happened and how it is affecting you. You may also record your statement as you make it or even ask the interview if they can provide you with a copy. Some insurance companies will do this. Having your own copy of your statement could prove helpful later if your accident was serious or the person at-fault seems to be in question and it seems your case will be headed to court. The lawyers at McMullin Injury Law understand that this is one of the major tricks insurance companies use.
Trick #3 Pointing the Finger at Another Driver
Some car accidents may involve multiple parties. Even in just a two-car accident, sometimes there will be disputes about what happened and who was at fault. But particularly in accidents involving three or four or even more cars, can this be the case. Insurance companies are really good at deciding that someone else was at fault rather than their own insured. When this happens everybody is pointing the finger at another driver and as a result, no one is stepping up and accepting responsibility to handle the claim. So it forces litigation. Then you have to file a lawsuit and sue everyone because once it gets into the legal system then everyone will finally be incentivized to actually figure out what a judge or jury would do. Once the judge or jury are involved people tend to start being a little more honest. Unfortunately, when this happens it can waste valuable time and money, often taking more than a year to get resolution on your case. In cases such as this, a percentage of fault in the accident will be determined for each driver and the insurance companies will have to pay the expenses of the accident accordingly. This percentage of fault would be determined by evidence and testimony through the trial process. The attorneys at McMullin Injury Law in St. George, Utah know that this is one of the major tricks insurance companies use.
Trick #4 Pointing the Finger at Another Cause
This is extremely common. Insurance companies like to point to anything else that could possibly be the cause of your injuries other than the accident. The primary thing they would point at would be if you have ever had an injury to the same part of your body before the crash. They are going to want to look at your medical history. If you have dealt with even a similar problem before, they are going to blame your current problem on that. It is going to be their primary argument. You will need to be able to prove to the contrary.
Secondly, they may also argue that the crash was minimal and that there is no way that the impact of that crash could cause the type of injury to the human body that you are claiming. Even though they know that this argument won’t hold up in court because it has been proven through studies that even very small impacts can potentially result in serious injury. But they will bring it up nonetheless to try to scare you away from making a claim.
The third way they could point the finger at another cause is by getting on your social media to see if you go swimming or play basketball or go to the gym after your accident. And if you do, they could come back and say, “They have been at a gym so they could have hurt themselves at the gym.” This is ridiculous because they know that even people that are hurt try to live their lives as close as they can to normal and they are perfectly justified in doing so. But still, they may try to use that against you. On social media, they may also find posts showing you on vacations or doing activities with your family and draw the conclusion that you must not be in as much pain as you claim because you are able to participate in those activities. For this reason, be cautious as you make posts on social media. The lawyers at McMullin Injury Law in Cedar City UT are aware that this is a major trick insurance companies use.
Trick #5 Arguing That You Didn’t go to the Doctor Enough
The insurance company can actually argue that you didn’t go to the doctor enough. They can do the opposite of what you might expect. They can argue the medical services that you receive both ways. Meaning that if the impact of your car accident wasn’t that hard in their opinion and you go to the doctor a lot, they will argue that you are faking it and that you weren’t really hurt. But if the opposite is true and you are someone that doesn’t really like to go to the doctor so you visit the doctor the minimal amount that you can and you just try to heal on your own to keep your medical costs down, now they might use that against you too. They could claim that if you were really hurt, you would have gone to the doctor more.
So, If you don’t seek enough medical attention they could use that against you saying that if you were hurt you would have received more treatment. On the other hand, if you received a lot of medical treatment, they may say that you are faking it. Either way, the insurance company can use it as the argument against you. So be smart and take care of yourself appropriately by getting the treatment that is needed but does not be excessive.
Summary
Insurance Company Tricks –
This article has brought to your attention five strategies that an insurance company could use to deny your claim against them or at least decrease their costs. They are loopholes that the adjuster may use to minimize their fault and question your integrity. It is smart to be aware that these areas could be scrutinized and manipulated by the insurance companies to turn the case in their favor. Awareness will help you be better prepared to deal with their questions and protect your rights. It is important that you feel that you are being heard by the adjusters involved in your case and that you are being fairly compensated for your expenses and pain and suffering caused by the accident. Laws are in place to make sure that this happens. If you have concerns, let a qualified personal attorney advise you about tricks insurance companies use after a car accident in Cedar City Utah.
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5 THINGS EVERY UTAH DRIVER SHOULD KNOW ABOUT CAR INSURANCE
SAINT GEORGE INJURY LAWYER EXPLAINS WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT AUTO INSURANCE
Auto insurance can be a pretty tricky thing because everyone has to have it and most people don’ t know that much about it. Typically, when you ask people what kind of coverage they have on their car, they often respond with, “Oh, I have full coverage.” They seem to think that full coverage means that their insurance will pay 100% no matter what happens with anything related to an accident in their car. This seems to be the impression that some people are under. This is simply not true. Any auto insurance policy is going to have completely separate lines of coverage. What those are, is separate contract language that applies to a given situation that will trigger the application of one of those contracts. This article will explain each separate line of coverage and what it covers.
#1 Comprehensive and Collision Coverage
The first line we will discuss is the coverage of property. There is collision coverage and comprehensive coverage. This is for damage to your own property. Collision coverage is used when your car is damaged by another vehicle. When you have collision coverage on your car, it doesn’t matter who is at fault in the accident to use that benefit. You can go through your own insurance whether someone hits you or you hit someone else. There will likely be a deductible that applies with the most common being $500. However, the deductible could range from no deductible to several thousand depending on what you choose. If you do use your own collision coverage to pay for the damages on your auto and the other driver is found to be at-fault, their insurance will reimburse your insurance company those expenses.
Comprehensive coverage is very similar in that it doesn’t matter who is at fault and it covers the damage done to your own vehicle. This covers all of the other hazards that could happen to your car other than a collision with another car. An example might be a tree falling on your car, or vandalism of your car or a fire. This is also the line of coverage that covers when a rock hits your windshield. There is usually a deductible on this coverage also.
#2 PIP Coverage
The second type of coverage that we have in the state of Utah is PIP. This stands for Personal Injury Protection. It is a special form of med pay coverage. Med pay coverage is a line of coverage for medical payments for yourself. So if you get hurt in a car accident, your med pay would be the first policy to come in and pay for your medical bills. So they would pay for your ambulance ride or your emergency room visit, or visits to your chiropractor and so on. Your own insurance would cover the bill.
In the short term, some people will say, “Well, why would my insurance cover that bill? The accident wasn’t my fault. The other guy ran a red light. Why is my insurance paying anything?” This answer to that is that in Utah we have a PIP law, a statute, that says that every single auto insurance policy sold to an individual in the state of Utah, must have a minimum of $3,000 in PIP coverage. Everyone must have at least this much. There are also other coverages that you must have unless you sign a waiver to get out of them. Your PIP coverage also includes service that you may need if you are seriously injured in a automobile accident such as household services. Let’s say you were injured and you were laid up, you unable do your own dishes, you can’t raise your arms up above your head, or mow your own lawn. You need someone to come by and help you manage those things. PIP coverage requires a minimum of $20 a day to be available to you to pay for those types of services. This coverage will pay to have someone come in and help you take care of your house while you are recovering. PIP coverage also includes some wage loss. So the $3,000 in medical coverage, plus the household services, plus the wage loss in part of the PIP coverage. The loss of wages will be either $250 per week or 85% of your normal weekly wage whichever is lower. The insurance company can pay you the lowest of the two. Those figures are minimums. You may be thinking that you make a lot more than that and that’s not going to cover you. No, it’s not, but it is something to help tide you over and ease the pain short term until you can make a claim for lost wages against a bodily injury liability policy that may apply on the at-fault driver’s insurance.
We have this PIP requirement in place in Utah for a couple of reasons. This PIP coverage can be both good and bad for Utah drivers, mostly good. If you get hurt in a crash, you don’t have to wonder who was at fault, was it him or was it me, when deciding to seek medical treatment. You don’t have to ask yourself those questions before getting medical attention in Utah because your PIP will pay for your treatment automatically whether you are at fault or not and that is a very good thing. We value people being able to get medical care even if they can’t afford it. Nobody is expecting to be involved in a car accident and they shouldn’t have to think about how they will pay for medical care for an accident that they didn’t cause. One of the tradeoffs to PIP coverage is that if you don’t reach the minimum threshold of $3,000 in medical expenses claimed on your PIP portion of your policy, you are actually precluded from making a claim against the at-fault driver’s liability policy. So, if you are a car accident victim and you get hurt and go to the emergency room for treatment and you have minor injuries such as bruises and stitches and your bills total $1,500 and then your injuries heal and you are fine. . . you cannot make a claim against the liablitiy policy of the driver that hit you. Even though you are not made whole under the law. Clearly no one would say, “Hey, go ahead and hit me as long as you pay my medical bills.” That is not a fair trade, clearly no one wants to be hurt and go through physical pain and then the hassle of seeking medical treatment until they recover. So the driver that caused your injury may owe you more than the cost of your medical bills but you have no right to seek any further resolution in your case if your medical bills are less than $3,0000. That will bring us to the next type of coverage we will discuss.
#3 Liability Coverage
Liability coverage really breaks down into multiple coverages. In Utah, the state minimum limits for liability are 25/65/15. What that means is that you have $25,000 in coverage per person that you hurt and up to $65,000 for all the people in the vehicle that you hurt and $15,000 to apply to property damage that you cause. Liability coverage protects you from lawsuits from other people. So when you hurt someone else, you have a duty to make them whole. And because most people don’t have twenty grand sitting around but we could easily cause $20,000 worth of injury to someone, we are required to carry liability coverage. When you make a claim against a liability portion of someone else’s insurance because they are at fault for the accident, your own PIP coverage, that paid out your medical bills for the short term, actually gets paid back. Your insurance gets the money they paid out, back for your medical expenses.
Within the limits of liability, there are specific circumstances that each amount would be used for. Our example is 25/65/15. The last amount listed is the amount of coverage that you have for property damage. This amount would be your coverage if you were to damage someone else’s property. For instance if you were the at-fault driver in a car accident and you totalled an $55,000 SUV, you would need much more than the property damage limit in our example of $15,000. Considering the value of many cars on the road today, a person may want to increase the amount of property damage that they carry on their auto policies. If the current limit is exhausted in a lawsuit, the claimant can then sue the individual policy holder for the remaining damages. It would be wise to consult with your insurance agent and make an informed decision about the amount of the liability limits in all three areas within your auto policies.
In the above example, the first amount, $25,000, is the amount of liability coverage that your policy would offer for payment of someone else’s injuries. In a serious accident, that amount could be used up quickly. What if someone loses a limb or is disfigured or loses the ability to work for the rest of their life. Or even worse, what if someone loses their life as a result of an accident where you were the at-fault driver? The second amount, $65,000, is the global figure for all medical expenses. This means that the limit for medical expenses that your insurance will pay for all persons that you injure while driving your car is $65,000. What if the other car had four to six passengers and they were all injured? In a serious accident, this would simply not be enough coverage. You would probably be sued for much more than your limits provide.
Auto Accidents
#4 UM Coverage
The fourth line of coverage is called UM coverage, which means uninsured motorist coverage. You might be hit by someone who is carrying no liability coverage. They are driving illegally with no insurance or perhaps, for whatever reason, the policy on their car does not apply. It can happen. The best person to insure against your own risk while you are driving is you. You don’t know what kind of coverage the other driver that hits you will be carrying. So if you get uninsured coverage you will have the necessary insurance available to make a potential claim against. You treat it just like it’s the liability coverage of someone else. It is triggered within your own policy by the fact that your were hit by someone without liability insurance.
#5 UIM Coverage
The last line of coverage that you should be aware of is underinsured motorist coverage. This kicks in when you have exhausted the liability limit of the other driver. It’s a secondary type of coverage. So let’s say that you got hit and you suffered a terrible back injury that required a $50,00 surgery, but the at-fault driver may only have the state required minimum limit of $25,000. You still wouldn’t have enough coverage to pay for the surgery that you need. This is where your underinsured coverage would come into force. It would fill in the gap so you could get the care you need.
This article was a brief summary of the individual coverages contained within an auto policy in the state of Utah. Collision and comprehensive coverage are not required by law. However, if your car is financed through a bank or a credit union, they will require that your carry it in order to cover their financial interest in the car. Some insurance companies also offer specific towing coverage to their policyholders for a small fee.
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