The information currently available regarding the cause of the accident is that the semi-truck did not see stopped traffic and struck the rear of a pick-up truck causing an explosion.

The Inland Empire Law Group expresses its deepest condolences to the families and individuals involved in this horrible accident. Accidents such as this one change peoples’ lives. After the initial shock, many key decisions will need to be made to help the families and individuals recover physically and financially from the losses suffered from this accident.

Some of those key decisions will be how to address medical or funeral expenses, lost earnings and how to prevent serious financial hardship. Dealing with the emotional trauma from the acciden or from the losses. Unfortunately, there will be issues of fault finding and trying to get culpable parties, their insurance companies or employers to pay for the losses. Then there will be the issue of selecting an attorney to help the families through these difficult times. Beware of the attorneys that approach you first. They are violating the code of ethincs and may be violating the law. These attorneys are not the ones that should be hired.

David H. Ricks of the Inland Empire Law Group, a personal injury and wrongful death lawyer, understands how to help injured victims or the surviving families of accident victims to recover financially and can help direct them to care if none is available. We wish a speedy recovery for those injured and the blessings of God upon the families involved.

Many would say that this was a good thing to help prevent runaway verdicts. I concur in some respect, but disagree on other grounds. First, an artificial limit allows the insurance companies to know exactly their maximum exposure and then negotiate settlements significantly below that number. Unfortunately, for the injured victims they are often left accepting a lesser settlement to avoid the huge costs of trying the cases. The insurance companies have huge reserves to try these cases, while the injured patients rely upon the finances of their attorneys or from their limited resources.

The arguments from the insurance companies and doctors in support of the financial limits, are that these caps reduce insurance premium costs, health care costs and get more money into the hands of the injured victims by also reducing the amount the attorneys can receive for their services. In reality, health care costs have had little to no reduction by the caps on pain and suffering damages and the amount of money for injured victims has not increased over the thirty plus years it has been in effect. In fact, adjusted from inflation, the amount available to injured patients from settlements or judgments is significantly less than in the 1970s.

The only advantage these caps have had is to limit the amount of insurance premiums paid by the healthcare providers. The California Medical Board was to take a more active roll in eliminating bad doctors from the practice of medicine. However, this does not seem to have been the case because many of these same doctors continue to practice medicine despite multiple successful claims against them.

Good medical malpractice claims need to be properly compensated, while the bad claims eliminated. The present system lumps all claims together and punishes good claims with an artificial cap because of the many bad claims. Frankly, I would not object as much to a cap, if it is adjusted for inflation or otherwise modified over time. At least a person injured in 2009 would receive the same compensation as a patient in 1975.

David H. Ricks and the Inland Empire Law Group practice in the area of medical malpractice. If you have a medical malpractice claim in Pomona, Ontario, Upland, Rancho Cucamonga, Fontana, Colton, San Bernardino, Victorville or other areas within San Bernardino County, call us to discuss your case. 1-888-MY-IELAWYER or 909-481-0100.

Other important information about the MICRA provisions is as follows:

Economic damages can be reduced by the patient’s own insurance coverage. Code of Civil Procedure sec. 667.6 allows future damages over $50,000 to be paid in installments instead of a lump sum, and if the Plaintiff dies, the payments also stop. Statute of Limitations. Suit must be filed within one year from the discovery of an injury and within three years from injury. (CCP sec. 340.5.) The law limits the amount the lawyers can charge on a contingency fee (BPC sec. 6146) to 40% of the first $50K, 33.33% of the next $50K, 25% of the next $500K, and 15% on any amount in excess of $600K.

Think about this example. There are two brothers. The younger brother uses the older brother’s car and several hours later gets in an accident. The older brother knows that if the younger brother had permission, the older brother’s insurance policy is liable for the injuries up to the statutory limit. So instead of admitting he gave permission, the older brother, claims he never gave permission on the day of the accident, and in fact, just happened to call his brother to tell him not to take the car. The accident victim is left with a broken arm and damaged back, medical bills, a vehicle the was completely destroyed and her only form of transportation being a bike. The younger brother claims he believed he had permission. The defense holds up any settlement and the case goes to trial over three years after the accident.

So on the witness stand, the older brother freely tells whatever story he can in order to try and convince a jury the no permission was given. Time and time again he is shown to have lied to nearly every critical fact. Yet, what consequences was there for such disregard for the oath administered merely minutes prior to the rendering of the false testimony? So long as there are no consequences for perjury, perjury will prevail when truth should reign supreme.

If we do not insist on integrity, we can not insist on justice. If we do not enforce the law, there is no law. By extension, if there is no integrity in testifying, nor enforcement when perjury is committed, then there is no truth. Truth becomes subjective according to the one who states a “fact” under oath. Black is white and white is black. Day is night and night is day.

Without the backing of judicial enforcement, or a really good trial lawyer, we personally cannot “force” others to tell the truth. Truth can only start with ourself. One person at a time, one truth at a time until day is day, white is white and truth is right.

Am I naive in this thinking? Maybe. But I can sleep at night. I hope you can as well.

www.davidrickslaw.com

To avoid being victimized twice, an injury victim, whether from a car accident, slip and fall, dog bite or some other cause, that person should consult an experience personal injury attorney. Having a trained, experienced and competent lawyer working for you helps in so many ways. These might include:

Peace of mind to know you have someone fighting for you and your rights.
Guidance in finding proper medical care when you do not have insurance or know where to go.
Preventing the insurance adjuster from putting pressure on you to settle when you are not ready.
Knowing you have someone that knows how to evaluate your case and secure a good recovery.
Having someone there to comfort you and assure you that things will be all right.

The reason I started this blog is to help injury victims know that there are many good lawyers and people out there ready to help when that time comes that when you need a lawyer to protect your rights.

If you have a story to tell regarding your accident, or your experience with an insurance company, share it with me and others. While we can not always prevent accidents, we can prevent being a victim twice.

David H. Ricks set up the Inland Empire Law Group to exclusively help accident victims. The idea was to provide something better than being a number on a board. Personalized attention is the hallmark of the Inland Empire Law Group. Check out David Ricks and the Inland Empire Law Group at www.davidrickslaw.com and www.inlandempirelawgroup.com. Or call for an initial consulation at (909) 481-0100. When you contact our office, ask for your free Glove Box Accident Information Guide. This Guide will help you gather all the information you need after an accident to give you the upper hand in your accident claim.