After a car accident, you’re probably thinking about what you need to do next. What you might not be thinking of, however, is what you should not be doing. You’ll want to avoid certain actions after a car accident in order to improve your recovery time, avoid implicating yourself, and get the best possible settlement.

1) Do Not Leave the Scene

Regardless of how minor the car wreck may be, it’s imperative you stay at the scene of the accident until you check on the other party involved, exchange the proper information, and report the event to law enforcement. If you do not do these things, you’re committing a crime and could be charged with a hit-and-run.

If you leave the scene of an auto accident you can be charged with a misdemeanor and a fine– depending on the outcome of the crash. You may also have to serve a sentence of jail time.

Underinsured Motorist Coverage (or “UIM”) is an optional coverage available for your personal automobile insurance that compensates you for personal injuries in a car accident when the at-fault driver’s insurance does not adequately cover your injuries.  Unlike uninsured motorist coverage,  drivers in Missouri are not required to have underinsured motorist coverage.

Under Missouri law, a Missouri driver must carry at least $25,000.00 in liability coverage to cover any bodily injuries that the driver may cause in a car accident.  Since state law only requires $25,000.00 in liability coverage, many drivers do not elect to obtain additional coverage under their policies.  As a result, many people who are seriously injured in a car wreck cannot recover the amount they need from the other driver’s insurance to cover their injuries.  This is when underinsured motorist coverage comes into play.

At the Law Office of Mike Campbell, we pride ourselves on giving back to our local and nationwide community however we can. As part of that dedication, we decided to start a scholarship in 2018. The Fall 2018 submission period just came to a close– our first time holding the scholarship– and we were humbled by the amount of applications we received as well as the overall quality of every essay.

Thank you to everyone who applied! We’re pleased to announce we’ve chosen a winner.

Congratulations to Morgan Ackley of Boise, Idaho!

Morgan is attending Boise State University’s graduate program and is working toward a master’s degree in technical communication.

Under Missouri law, healthcare providers like doctors, chiropractors, hospitals, and physical therapists are permitted to place “liens” on your case instead of billing your health insurance directly.  Based on the law, Missouri healthcare providers can refuse to submit their bills to your health insurance company and can, instead, choose to place a “lien” on the proceeds of your settlement or jury verdict.  What this means for healthcare providers is that they do not have to take the standard adjustments to their bills that are part of the contract they may have with your health insurance company.

For example, if you have health insurance, your heath insurance provider may agree to have a medical provider “in network” (permitted by the company) only if that medical provider agrees to take a discount on the services it provides you.  So, instead of requiring $1,000.00 for an MRI, the healthcare provider has an agreement with your health insurer to accept $400.00 instead.  It’s a win-win for the health insurance provider and medical provider — the health insurance pays a lower amount for the MRI and the medical provider gets to treat patients, like you, with a guaranteed payment for its services.

A personal injury in the legal context is when someone is harmed by the negligence, recklessness, or intentional acts of another person.  In car accident cases, it is not uncommon for there to be both an injury to your person and an injury to your property, such as your car.  In this circumstance, the injury to you may lead you to ask for compensation for your personal injury, and the damage to your property may lead you to seek a separate property damage claim.  For more information for how to handle your property damage claim, please see our blog on property claims.

There are a significant number of cases that fall under the broad category of “personal injury” claims.  For instance, if you are injured in a car accident, then you may have a personal injury claim.  If you are injured from a slip and fall on someone’s property, then you may have a personal injury claim.  If you are injured because of medical negligence, then you may have a personal injury claim. 

Uninsured Motorist Coverage (or “UM”) is a required coverage available under your automobile insurance policy that covers your personal injuries in the instance that the other driver is at-fault and does not have insurance.  Under Missouri’s motor vehicle financial responsibility law, all Missouri drivers are required to have at least $25,000 in liability coverage to cover any injuries they may cause in a car accident.  Unfortunately, there are times when people allow their insurance to lapse or just outright do not carry automobile insurance.

However, Missouri law also requires that every automobile policy in the state has to have $25,000.00 in uninsured motorist benefits.  As a result, even if you are injured through no fault of your own in a Missouri car accident and the other driver does not have insurance to cover your injuries, you still have coverage under your own insurance policy that will apply.  In some cases, that will be the state minimum of $25,000.00.  In other cases, there may be more coverage available if you purchased additional coverage for your policy.  Although uninsured coverage is required, most people are advised to carry additional uninsured motorist coverage for these types of scenarios.

It’s not often that you see something bigger on the road than a tractor-trailer. Accidents involving these lumbering vehicles, especially undercarriage accidents, result in thousands of wrongful deaths each year. There are many reasons why these wrecks occur; however, there are ways to decrease and even prevent the unnecessary loss of so many lives.

2016 Missouri Truck Accident Statistics  

Below you’ll find just some of the staggering statistics reported by the National Highway Safety Administration related to Missouri truck accidents in 2016. In this case, a truck is defined as weighing more than 10,000 pounds, excluding buses and motorhomes.

• 1,294 large trucks were involved in fatal crashes.
• As a result, 114 people were killed.
• 17 percent of these deaths were truck occupants, 66 percent were occupants of cars and other passenger vehicles, and 16 percent were pedestrians and cyclists.
• 11 percent of all motor vehicle crash deaths involved a large truck.
• 73 percent of deaths in large truck crashes were in crashes involving tractor-trailers and 21 percent were in wrecks involving single-unit trucks.

Medical payments coverage or “medpay” is an optional coverage under your own personal automobile insurance. If you have medpay, then it will provide coverage for you and for any individuals injured in your car as a result of a car accident that is the fault of another party.

One of the first things we investigate when you retain our firm is whether your insurance policy has medical payments coverage.  You pay a monthly premium for this coverage and should use it to your benefit if you need help paying your medical bills after a car accident.  We typically see coverage limits for medpay range from $1,000 to $10,000, depending on the policy.  Your own insurance adjuster should inform you after a wreck that this coverage is available to you to help with your medical bills.  Unfortunately, many clients who are injured in car accidents are never told they have this coverage, even though they pay for it, and are stuck with massive medical bills.

Going back to work sooner than you are ready can actually put you at a greater risk of re-injuring yourself or extending the time that it takes for your injury to heal.

The best tool for deciding when to return to work after a car accident is the treatment plan you receive from your doctor.  Your doctor will take into consideration your responsibilities at your job and will be able to determine when you are physically ready to handle them again.

In order for a personal injury claim to be successful, you need to have written medical documentation from your doctor that ties your injuries and symptoms to your car accident and shows a medical basis for your inability to immediately return to work.

Every attorney is different, and every attorney will look at different things when evaluating your personal injury case.  However, there are a few things that our firm looks at when evaluating a case to make sure it’s a good fit for us and for the potential client.  Besides making sure that we do not have a professional or personal conflict in a case, we take the following in consideration when evaluating a case:

• Who is liable (or responsible) for the collision/accident? One of the first things we look at is the liability or responsibility of the parties in the accident. In the case of a car accident, if you are responsible for the crash, then chances are that you will need an insurance defense attorney to help you.  We do not defend insurance companies, so we will inform you of this in our evaluation.  If you were not at-fault or partially at-fault, then we will dig deeper into your case.  For example, in our post about how fault is determined in a car accident, we discussed how comparative fault works and how that might affect a potential car accident case.