Car Accidents

Published on: January 21, 2011

Kentucky Cell Phone Texting Laws Meant To Prevent Accidents

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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Published on: January 17, 2011

Fort Knox Man Charged With Murder & DUI After Fatal Car Crash

By Ackerson Law Offices

A tragic Kentucky car crash has killed a woman in Louisville. Martha Diaz, age 40, of the 5000 block of Quail Court in Louisville, Kentucky has died from injuries she sustained in an automobile accident on Sunday. The fatal crash was caused by Francisco Balderez, age 26, after the BMW he was driving went off the road and hit a sign and a utility pole early Sunday morning on the Greenbelt Highway near Lower River Road. At the time of the crash, Balderez’s blood alcohol level was reported to have been .211, which is nearly 3 times the legal limit. Balderez has been charged with one count of murder, one count of first degree criminal mischief, one count of possession of a controlled substance, and DUI. Balderez was taken to UL hospital with non-life-threatening injures.

Further details of the accident are pending.

This is clearly a case where Balderez should not have been driving and is responsible for the death of Diaz. Diaz’s Estate will have a wrongful death claim against Balderez for the role he played in Diaz’s death. Kentucky wrongful death laws will allow Diaz’s Estate to seek damages from Balderez, including his automobile insurance carriers. Additional investigation into where Balderez was coming from may shed light on other persons who may share some fault in this tragic accident. In cases where alcohol was supplied to the drunken driver when it should not have been, due to their already known intoxicated state, either at a party or a bar, those persons or businesses can become liable to the Estate of the decedent for the drunken condition which caused the accident.
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Published on: January 14, 2011

Kentucky Teenager Killed January 8th In Auto Accident

By Ackerson Law Offices

It has been reported that Trista Shoemaker was killed in an car crash in Franklin County, Kentucky on Saturday January 8, 2011 at an intersection on U.S. 127. Witnesses report that 31 year old Kevin Butler, of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, ran a red light and struck the passenger side of Shoemaker’s 1999 Toyota. Trista was 17, and was pronounced dead at the scene. Her 15 year old passenger in her car was taken to Franklin County Regional Medical Center.

Butler, who was driving a 2002 Chevy truck, was airlifted to UK Hospital.

The accident is under investigation, and anyone with information about it should call the Frankfort State Police Post at (502) 227-2221.

If the initial reports are correct, there should be a personal injury lawsuit brought on behalf of the injured 15 year old and a wrongful death suit brought by the Estate of Ms. Shoemaker. In both suits, recovery of medical bills, pain & suffering, and lost wages should be sought. In the case of the death of Ms. Shoemaker, the Estate’s claim will be substantial because of the claim for a lifetime of lost wages and loss of consortium claim of her parents. An accident re-constructionist may be immediately needed to start gathering proof of what happened here.

Kentucky personal injury attorney Brent T. Ackerson stated: “This is a tragedy when one young life is taken and another is forever changed. We have two families that will never be the same. Our hearts and prayers go out to their families.”
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Published on: January 6, 2011

Kentucky Auto Accidents: What To Consider At The Time Of Minor Collisions?

By Ackerson Law Offices

If involved in an automobile accident in Kentucky, here are a few things to consider in minor collisions. These suggestions and issues are not applicable in all situations, including major collisions involving serious injury or death.

MOVING VEHICLES
Moving your vehicle once the accident has occurred, prior to the police arriving, is not recommended, even if you are impeding the flow of traffic. The reason for such is if you desire to have a police report taken related to the accident, the road and weather conditions, and assessment of fault, the police will likely not take one if the vehicles have been moved. If the vehicles have been moved prior to the police arriving, the police will likely only issue you and the other driver a civil report to fill out. Stories may differ after an accident, and it may be beneficial later to have a police report to substantiate your version of the events. Usually, if traffic is impeded, the police will arrive, take a look at the position of the vehicles, and then instruct the drivers to move the vehicles to allow for traffic to continue as normal. This will allow the police to be in a position to thoroughly complete a report.

CALL THE POLICE TO THE SCENE
If involved in an auto accident in Kentucky, one thing to consider is whether or not to have a police report taken. Many times when people are involved in minor auto accidents, one party will suggest that the parties just exchange information (including insurance information) and go on their ways. Either suggesting that they will work with their insurance companies to resolve the damages, or suggesting that they skip reporting the matters to their insurance companies and just pay for the damages out of their own pockets. This may not be a safe way to handle the situation and protect your interests. The reason being is that the other party:
(i) may not have current and up to date coverage, and thus be uncollectable from. If the police take a report, and the other driver fails to have insurance or gives the police false information, such will be documents and be beneficial to you later when trying to resolve the matter with that driver or your own insurance company.

Or
(ii) may change their story about what really occurred, the extent of the injuries involved, or the extent of the damage involved. If the other party is going to lie, its better that they are forced to attempt to do it immediately and to the police (lying to a police office, who is taking an official report, can be a crime). Additionally if stories are going to vary about what occurred, its better to have a police office take a report and potentially be a witness later to substantiate what he or she witnessed at the time of arriving upon the scene of the accident.
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Published on: December 22, 2010

Kentucky Auto Accident Passengers Have Multiple Options Of Recovery

By Ackerson Law Offices

Passengers in vehicles that are involved in Kentucky auto accidents have multiple potential avenues to recovery for their injuries, medical bills, lost wages, and pain & suffering. The question of who to seek recovery from boils down to two questions: (1) who is at fault, and (2) who has insurance.

If you are injured in an automobile accident in Kentucky, the first $10,000.00 of insurance available for medical bills and lost wages is covered by Kentucky No Fault Insurance, which all drivers are required to carry. That means if you are a passenger in a vehicle that is involved in an accident, regardless of whose fault it is, you are covered for the first $10,000.00 of insurance available for medical bills and lost wages through the insurance company of the car you are a passenger in. If the driver of the car you were in does not have insurance, then you would rely upon you own insurance coverage for the first $10,000.00 of insurance available for medical bills and lost wages. If you also do not have auto insurance coverage, then you would rely upon the insurance coverage of someone who has auto insurance and who resides in your household for the first $10,000.00 of insurance available for medical bills and lost wages. If you, the driver of the vehicle you were in, or the people residing in your household, do not have auto insurance, then you can qualify for the Kentucky Assigned Claims Plan, which would assign an insurance company to cover the first $10,000.00 of insurance available for medical bills and lost wages. This coverage is commonly referred to as PIP Coverage (Personal Injury Protection Coverage/No Fault Coverage).
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