Bike Accidents

Published on: June 14, 2011

Elizabethtown, Kentucky Boy Injured By Car While Riding His Bike.

A car has hit a boy in Elizabethtown, Kentucky while the child was riding his bike. The 9 year old boy was riding on Colesburg Road in E-Town when a car driven by a 29 year old man stuck the child. The child was taken to Jewish Hospital and then transferred to Kosair Children’s Hospital for medical care to his head and leg. In cases where bike riders, even children, are hit by cars, there are multiple sources of recovery for injuries and damages suffered by the bike riders. Those sources include the motor vehicle driver’s insurance, the bike riders insurance, and the auto policies of those residing in the household of the injured bike rider. This is important because injuries suffered by bike riders by car drivers can be severe. When injuries are severe, recovery time, pain & suffering, lost wages, and medical bills can become very expensive. The more insurance dollars available, the better off the injured person will be.
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Published on: April 21, 2011

Kentucky Woman Sentenced To 35 Years For DUI Related Death

By Ackerson Law Offices

A Louisville Kentucky woman has been sentenced to 35 years in jail for the DUI related death of an 11 year old boy. The child was riding his bike through a neighborhood when he was struck and killed by an automobile. The driver of the car was reported to have a blood alcohol level of .266, which is over three times the legal limit.

People who injure others due to DUI related accidents can not only be punished criminally, but also civilly. The victims and/or the families of the victims can bring civil lawsuits claiming damages for personal injury matters and wrongful death claims. These types of cases help the victims and their families pay medical bills, lost wages, and other economic losses. These cases also send a message to the community that DUIs won’t be tolerated, and financially punish the offenders.
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Published on: January 27, 2011

Kentucky Pedestrian Killed While On Expressway After Car Breaks Down

By Ackerson Law Offices

The Victim, age 56, of Louisville, Kentucky died Monday night due to injuries he sustained after his car broke down on the expressway, and he was attempting to flag down help. The Victim was stuck by another vehicle on the ramp from Phillips Lane and Louisville Airport. While no charges have been pressed against the other driver, fault in this case is still undetermined. The Victim leaves behind a wife and children. Vandeveer’s family has suffered a huge lose, for which the Kentucky Courts will allow an avenue for recovery.

The Victim’s family will need to setup an Estate through Probate, which will empower them to handle wrapping up his affairs and transferring his assets to his wife and children. Additionally, the Estate will be in a position to seek recovery of medical bills, funeral bills, loss of consortium claims, and a claim for a lifetime of lost wages/earning potential from both the other driver & the other driver’s insurance company and from the Victim’s own insurance company. This type of action is known as a wrongful death claim. While the legal system cannot bring the Victim back or lessen the pain his family is experiencing, it can provide a recovery financially for the family so they can be assisted in moving their lives forward and provide the money that they have lost as a result of this tragedy and the money that the Victim would have earned for the family over his lifetime.

Fault isn’t an issue at this time, and unless a person is 100% at fault, Kentucky law allows for a recovery of damages on a percentage basis. This is known as comparative fault under Kentucky Law. For example, under comparative fault and Kentucky law, a person injured or killed could bear 80% fault for an accident and the other party only bear 20%, and the party injured or killed who bore 80% fault could seek recovery of the 20% from the other party and their insurance company. Under such a theory, if the damages were calculated at $500,000.00 from an accident where a person was injured or killed, the recovery allowed under such an 80/20 split of fault would allow the injured or killed party to recovery $100,000.00.
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Published on: January 23, 2011

Jefferson County Kentucky Prosecutors Appealing Ruling In DUI Case: DUIs Cause Serious Injures & Deaths Everyday Across Our Country.

By Ackerson Law Offices

At 5:00 a.m. in January 2010 in Louisville, Kentucky, police were called to the scene of a parking lot where a man was passed out asleep in his truck. The keys were in the ignition, the truck was running, the man’s foot was on the accelerator, one hand was on the steering wheel, the other hand was on the gear shift, and the man was unconscious. The police officers reported hearing the engine running loudly from more than a block away, due to the truck being in park but having the gas pedal stepped on by the unconscious man. At the scene, the police had to break out the window because the man would not wake up and respond to the officers, and officers were afraid the vehicle would either caught on fire or jump into gear and propel itself through the parking lot.

The man admitted to police that he had been drinking at 4th Street Live and the breathalyzer given at the scene showed the man was nearly 3 times the legal limit of impairment. He was dangerous and could have injured or killed someone in the state he was in and driving a car.

However, in October 2010, the Jefferson District Court Judge ruled that the man should not have been charged with DUI, because he was asleep and did not have physical control of the vehicle.

Judges in Kentucky have relied upon a 1986 Kentucky Court of Appeals Case when dealing with DUIs and facts similar to this case. In that Court ruling, the Appeals Court stated that there are four factors to consider when the intoxicated person is asleep in the vehicle, as to where a DUI has been committed. The factors to consider if the person should be charged with DUI are:
(1) Whether the suspect in the vehicle was awake or asleep;
(2) Whether the engine of the suspects vehicle was running;
(3) The vehicle’s location and all circumstances explaining how the vehicle got there; and (4) The intent of the person behind the wheel.
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Published on: January 21, 2011

Kentucky Cell Phone Texting Laws Meant To Prevent Accidents

By Ackerson Law Offices

Kentucky has passed a law and now is enforcing it that prohibits cell phone texting while driving. The law is designed to make it illegal for drivers to text while driving, which takes drivers’ hands off the steering wheel of the car and takes drivers’ attentions off of the road. Cell phone usage, including texting, causes many accidents in Kentucky. The use of these devises while driving distracts drivers and seriously diminishes the driver’s control over their vehicle. It may seem like a small thing to use a cell phone or text while driving, but the reality is it causes major accidents which injury and kill people. Drivers who text or take their attentions off of the road can injure or kill pedestrians, including people at crosswalks, motorcyclists, bike riders, and drivers of other vehicles.

Kentucky’s law prohibiting texting while driving is limited in its effects due to the problems in enforcing it, which include only a small fine for getting caught. Because the consequences of having an accident and seriously injuring or killing others are so substantial, the law and its enforcement needs to be strengthened.

The State of Tennessee, which also has laws outlawing texting while driving, has begun to have special patrols designed as “text patrols” which use unmarked vehicles to specifically watch for and issue tickets to those drivers texting while driving.
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