Fairfax & Loudoun Personal Injury Lawyer - Automobile Accidents

Tiger Woods crashes within a golf shot of his Florida house; Most car accidents occur close to home.

Doug Landau — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:25:48 GMT

Even superstar athletes hit ditches, sand traps, cars and fire hydrants close to home. Car crash lawyer Doug Landau notes that many of his injured clients were struck by another motorist with a few miles of their home. The Florida Highway Patrol will cite golf champion Tiger Woods for careless driving but will not press criminal charges for his car crash outside his Florida home last Friday, according to the Associated Press.

The ticket will include a $164 fine and four points against his driver’s license. The police report includes the following details:

* Woods crashed his SUV into a fire hydrant and a tree at 2: 25 on the morning of Friday, Nov. 27, 2009.
* The airbags did not deploy.
* Woods’ wife, Elin Nordegren, told police she used a golf club to smash the back windows of the Cadillac Escalade in an effort to rescue her husband.

Most car crashes happen near home. Two thirds of road accidents occur within five miles of a motorist’s home. And, the survey showed, nearly a third of crashes happen less than a mile from home. Crashing into a parked car was the most common type of accident within a mile of a driver's home, the poll of 3,800 people also revealed. Just 5% of car accidents occurred 26 to 50 miles from home, and 6% at distances of more than 50 miles away.

Of the accidents closest to home, the most common cause after hitting parked vehicles was crashing while driving out of a minor road, followed by reversing into a vehicle and by hitting a wall. Research suggests that many drivers appear to be in a comfort zone when driving close to home on familiar roads, hence why such a large proportion of accidents occur there. It's so important to keep a full level of concentration when driving, whether you're just popping to the shops or starting or ending a longer journey. These results emphasize this even more.' As one who has represented innocent victims of careless drivers, Doug Landau understands how important it is to pay full time and attention to te operation of our motor vehicle to avoid a car wreck or other accident in your own neighborhood.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Doug Landau

Fairfax County Police "Youthful Driver Program" helps new drivers

Doug Landau — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:29:00 GMT

Fairfax County Police Department's "Youthful Driver Program" can help new drivers. The "Youthful Driver Program" can help "give them the knowledge and experience that could save their lives," notes Herndon Reston and Franklin Farms car crash lawyer Doug Landau. The Oak Hill injury lawyer has taken similar courses in Virginia, online and in the District of Columbia, and he has learned new safety and defensive driving techniques.

The Fairfax County program web site asks:

Is someone you love learning to drive? The FCPD Youthful Driver Program can help. Police instructors will help your “young driver”:

* Learn what it means to be an “inexperienced” driver
* Identify the risks and realities of being teen driver
* How to ignore peer pressure behind the wheel

Spend a Saturday learning the rules and risks of the road. Dangers of the road aren’t confined to teenagers; everyone on the road will be safer once they learn:

* How to recover from skidding on a wet roadway
* How to adjust your driving when road surfaces vary- hard surface to soft shoulders
* How to judge distance while driving at highway speeds

The FCPD Youthful Driver is a one day, hands-on course, running Saturdays from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Location: Fairfax County Criminal Justice Academy, 3725 Stonecroft Blvd. Chantilly
Cost: $200.00 (Financial accommodations may be made for qualifying students)
Eligibility: Fairfax teens aged 16-18 with a valid driver’s license
Contact: School Resource Officer in the high school the young driver attends, or call 703/818-1924.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Doug Landau

Good Witnesses use ALL their senses

Doug Landau — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Good witnesses can methodically recall what happened before, during and after an impact through the use of all of their 5 senses. These observers can not only recollect what they saw before and after a car crash, but they can also relate what they:

    * smelled (gasoline on the pavement, leaking transmission fluids, burning rubber from skid marks on the ashphalt, etc.);
    * heard (the horn going off before the sound of shattering glass, the back up warning before a large truck went into reverse, the screams of the other passengers to "watch out !" and the sirens of the ambulance, police and emergency personnel);
    * tasted (airbag propellent that had exploded into their mouth, blood, nausea, etc.);
    * felt (glass in their skin, throbbing from where their hit hit the windshield, burning from the safety air bags, upside down or sideways when the car or truck came to rest on the side of the road, a warm wet feeling seeking down the arm from a laceration, etc.)

If you or a loved on has been in a car accident, train wreck, bike crash, it is important to document and set down the important facts of what happened. One way you might get the most out of the recent memory of the event is by trying to go through the 5 senses before, during and after the impact when making notes as to what you recall. This is important to do while it is still fresh in your mind. If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident or crash, please contact us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. by e-mail or telephone (703-796-9555), as we may be able to help.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Doug Landau

Car & Driver reports: Texting more dangerous than driving drunk

Doug Landau — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:23:00 GMT

Car & Driver reports: Texting while operating a car or truck is more dangerous than driving drunk. Aldie, Prince William and Loudoun County car crash lawyer Doug Landau notes that a study by Car and Driver magazine demonstrated that texting while driving can be even more dangerous than driving while drunk.

ABRAMS LANDAU trial attorney Landau also observes that all of the driving in the Car and Driver study was done in a straight line on an 11,800-foot runway. After conducting the texting tests on both subjects at 35 and 70 miles per hour, the subjects then drank alcoholic beverages until they reached the legal driving limit of 0.08 percent blood-alcohol content. Then, they went back behind the wheel and ran the identical test without any texting distractions. The results showed that even on a straight road without any traffic, road signals, or pedestrians, and looking just at reaction times, the texting results were even worse than the alcoholic impairment results. The lesson to be learned: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TEXT AND OPERATE A MOTOR VEHICLE. BE SAFE. BE SMART. PULL OVER AND TEXT.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Doug Landau

What are "video depositions" ?

Doug Landau — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:45:00 GMT

Depositions are where lawyers ask witnesses or parties to a lawsuit questions, under oath, for use in pre-trial discovery or for later use at trial. They are important to get the injured plaintiff's story, so they cannot change it later, or make the negligent defendant driver explain why he did not follow the rules and the harm his actions caused.

While many of the television lawyer shows and movies have depositions, few portray "video depositions." Doug Landau and the ABRAMS LANDAU trial team make frequent use of videotaped depositions. While these "examinations before trial" (called "EBTs" in New York) are under oath and can be used later in court to impeach a witness, Landau finds that by taking the extra time, effort and money to have them videotaped results in more effective advocacy for his clients.

By investing in the cases early, experienced Herndon injury lawyer Landau has found that he avoids the problems that so many other so-called "personal injury specialists" seem to run into. If a witness disappears or becomes unavailable for trial, instead of simply reading the deposition to the jury, which is boring, ineffective and soon forgotten, Landau likes to play portions of the video that have "preserved" the witness's testimony. If an dog bite, burn victim or bike crash plaintiff's treating doctor cannot come to court, then videotaping her deposition can save the physician's time, the client's money and help the judge and jury with scheduling the trial (because you know exactly how long the tape is so it can be fit in without inconveniencing anyone !).

Most plaintiff's personal injury lawyers do not videotape depositions because they:

are afraid of how they sound on any recorded medium;
are not well enough prepared to risk looking foolish when the tape is played back;
do not want their own clients (or their families) to see how poorly they conduct discovery, and/or
they are too cheap to do so.

At ABRAMS LANDAU, ltd., we routinely videotape depositions all over the country. Mr. Landau is able to bring the witness to court via videotape for the judge and jury to "see" as well as "hear." As Sportscaster Warner Wolf used to say, "Let's go to the videotape !"

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Doug Landau

ABRAMS LANDAU donates Bicycle Safety books to Town of Herndon, Virginia

Doug Landau — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:51:00 GMT

After Doug Landau donated coloring books to the "Bike 2 Work" festival, the Smith Mountain Lake Triathlon and the Giant Acorn festival in Bumpass, Spotsylvania, Virginia, he brought the bicycle safety booklets for kids to the Herndon Depot Museum. Next time you visit us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., please visit the Depot Museum. A train station until 1968, Herndon's old depot became a museum housing artifacts and exhibits on railroad and town history. It is located near the the striking Municipal Center, the beautiful Herndon Fortnightly library, the fun-filled Town Green (where the "Friday Night Live" concerts are held in the summer), the Train Depot Museum is less than 100 yards from the famous red caboose. The Herndon Dulles Visitor's Center and Herndon Depot Museum are open daily from 10am until 4pm, and you can often find friendly Connie Hutchison there to answer questions about the town, give free information, maps and show you to the exhibits documenting Herndon's history. There's even pictures of the ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. building, which date back to the 1870's !

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Doug Landau

Information sought for carnival worker's fatal hit and run accident in Tallahassee Florida

Doug Landau — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:21:00 GMT

Our law firm has undertaken representing the family and estate of a carnival worker struck and killed by a "hit and run" driver. The 2002 Crown Victoria believed to have been involved in the crash that took our client's life has been located and the Florida police have hauled it away to begin collecting evidence. A trooper spotted the car abandoned on the side of Iron Bridge Road in Gadsden County.

However, there are still many questions unanswered for the family members in Virginia and up North. The tragic crash occurred at South Monroe and Paul Russell Road at about 9 o'clock on the night of Wednesday, October 28th. The decedent was in town with the carnival. According to the owner of Strates Shows, s job was to set up and run the roller coaster. Police report that our client was killed on his way back to the fairgrounds form the Winn Dixie grocery store.

According to the Leon County Sheriff's Office, the shiny black sedan was reported stolen at about 12:30 Thursday morning, some three and a half hours after the accident. Now investigators must figure out who was behind the wheel and if that report of a stolen car is legitimate or an attempt to cover up a crime. If you have any information about this fatal crash, please contact ABRAMS LANDAU at once (703-796-9555 or by e-mail) or the Tallahassee Police Department at 850-891-4200 or Crimestoppers at 850-574-TIPS

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Doug Landau

After car crashes, patients with health insurance sued by hospitals for medical bills

Doug Landau — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:23:00 GMT

Loudoun, Fairfax & Leesburg injury lawyer Doug Landau was shocked to hear this month how hospitals are suing patients for not paying bills. The shocking part is that these patients had valid insurance coverage. These patients wanted the bills paid and had given their health coverage information to the hospital staff. However, the hospital did not bill the patient's health insurance and accept the negotiated rates. Instead, the hospital waited, and then sued the patients in the local court, where they send a lawyer with stacks of files to collect on these outrageous lawsuits.

A fellow Virginia Trial Lawyer reports sitting in the Stafford court saw a local hospital taking patients to court and suing them for the medical bills ! Numerous patients, now defendants being sued by their hospital, said that they had presented their insurance cards to the hospital. They told the judge that they did not know that their insurance company had not been billed. Furthermore, these patients were not told until it was too late to have their valid health insurance policies pay because of the deadline in the insurance policy to report claims had passed. These people got judgments against them for !00% of the bills plus interest and attorney's fees ! If you are injured in an accident, make sure that the hospital, doctor and other health care providers have your current health insurance information and that this insurance THAT YOU OR YOUR LOVED ONES HAVE PAID FOR is actually billed and pays for your care. You do not want to end up in court being sued by the doctors or hospital that treated you for your injuries.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Doug Landau

Hospitals not billing truck crash and injured car accident victims' insurance !

Doug Landau — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:17:00 GMT

Notified that some local hospitals are taking crash victims' health insurance information and then ignoring it, Loudoun, Fairfax & Leesburg injury lawyer Doug Landau believes that this is tantamount to fraud. One such hospital outright refuses to bill a patient’s health insurance, despite the fact that they obtain this information during the intake process, which fraudulently misleads the patient to believe that it will be billed – and that the billing will be timely. When the health insurance is not billed, the patient frequently is unaware of this and the submission deadline for health insurance may pass. When this occurs, the innocent patient is left holding the bag for the entire amount of the hospital bill !

The hospitals have a contract with each of the health insurance carriers. The contract sets the rates that the insurance company will pay for health care provided to its policy holders and their covered family members. The contract also requires the hospital to accept that insurance payment. People pay for health insurance so that they do not get hit with enormous medical bills. Some plans have deductibles or co-pays, but these are known ahead of time, when the policy holder buys the coverage.

The requirement that the hospital or doctor accept the previously agreed upon insurance reimbursement rate and not "balance bill" the patient is one of the main reasons a worker or their family would buy health insurance. Health insurance purchasers have a reasonable expectation that they will get the basis of that bargain between their insurance company and the health care providers. By not taking the insurance, the hospital is breaching their contractual obligation to the insurer. Find out tomorrow what happened to patients whose health insurance was not billed by the hospital...

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Doug Landau

Found the drunk, unlicensed or illegal driver, but where's the insurance coverage ?

Doug Landau — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:01:00 GMT

In the event that the other driver is found after fleeing the scene of a car, motorcycle or truck crash, even after your claim is settled with the insurance company, the insurer can and will pursue that driver for reimbursement. This is a procedure known as subrogation. Essentially, they sue the party legally responsible for your injuries on your behalf. This does not mean that your claim can be delayed. Insurers are not allowed to drag out the process of settling with you while they look for or prosecute the responsible party. That is why subrogation allows for the legal process to continue after your claim is technically settled. You are reimbursed and then the insurance company goes after the "bad guys."

Keep in mind that no matter what the circumstances, your insurer will probably try to find reasons to avoid reimbursing you. Much as we like to believe insurance companies have clients' interests at heart, they are businesses, first and foremost. Businesses must turn profits. Though you should give the police as much descriptive information as possible, be careful about the statements you make to insurance companies and claims adjustors. If these are "recorded statements", you may not be able to change them later, even if you misspeak. You also may not know the extent of your own injuries at the time you make a statement. Once you go on the record, it is very difficult to add information about costs and problems that may surface afterward. However, much as the insurer will try to find ways to pay less, they are bound to pay judgments up to the limits of your coverage.

Like the Dudley Do-Right of cartoon fame, insurance companies can be counted upon to "get their man", if they can find him. Granted, their motivations may be more financial than altruistic, but it’s good to know that in the best case scenario, your insurer will see that a hit and run driver pays for his actions. Most importantly, look out for your own interests after an accident by knowing your rights. You are entitled to the coverage you have purchased. If you have questions or need advice, do not hesitate to seek the guidance of a personal injury attorney with experience in auto accidents and insurance claims.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Doug Landau