D.C. Personal Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Gabriel Assaad : Assaad Law, PLLC : D.C. Injury Law Journal

Yesterday morning saw yet another serious personal injury car accident in Washington D.C. In the early morning hours, a motorist collided with a police vehicle at the intersection of New Hampshire and Missouri Avenues in northwest D.C. Both the officer and the motorist were transported to the hospital with neck and back injuries. Police are investigating.

In the just-released Allstate Insurance America's Best Drivers Report, Washington D.C. comes in dead last in a ranking of car collision frequency in America's 200 largest cities. In fact, D.C. has the ignominious honor of being named America's most traffic accident-prone city three years running. D.C. drivers have a 96% higher risk of being involved in a serious personal injury car accident than drivers in other cities. D.C. drivers average one collision every 5.1 years, according to the auto insurance giant's statistics. Human error was cited as the major cause of D.C. personal injury car accidents.

Distracted driving, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, road rage, impaired driving and driving a poorly maintained vehicle are among the most common causes of car accidents. If you are involved in a serious D.C. car accident, a Washington D.C. personal injury attorney can investigate the facts and work aggressively to ensure that you receive the compensation your deserve so you and your family can concentrate on recovery.

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A drunken driver killed one Catholic nun and gravely injured two other nuns in a serious personal injury auto accident in Bristow, Virginia this past Sunday. The driver, who was also hospitalized, is an illegal immigrant from Bolivia with numerous motor vehicle violations and two previous DUI arrests. The 23-year-old man was driving with a suspended license as a result of previous DUI convictions. Following the accident, Virginia police charged Carlos Montano, a Prince William County resident, with involuntary manslaughter and drunken driving. As a result of a prior arrest, Montano was awaiting deportation but had been released by the court on his own recognizance.

The serious personal injury auto accident occurred Sunday morning as the three nuns were driving to attend a retreat at the Benedictine Monastery in Bristow, VA. Montano's car veered out of its lane, hit a barrier and crashed head-on into the nuns' car, killing 66-year-old Sister Denise Mosier and severely injuring her fellow Benedictine Sisters.

As happened in this case, tragic auto accidents can result in severe, life-altering personal injuries and death. While injured parties concentrate on healing and rehabilitation, an experienced Virginia personal injury attorney will investigate and work to see that accident victims receive the financial compensation they are entitled to.
 

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An 11-year-old Texas boy touring Washington D.C. with his family was fatally injured in a tragic traffic accident in Georgetown Sunday evening. The youngster was with his parents and brother, crossing Wisconsin Avenue NW near 33rd Street when he was hit by a car. The boy sustained severe head injuries and was taken to the hospital where he died of his injuries Monday.

Washington D.C. police are investigating. The woman driver of the vehicle that hit the boy has not been charged. It was not immediately clear whether the boy was in a crosswalk at the time of the accident. There is no traffic signal at the 3-way intersection which area residents called "dangerous."

Expert investigation is usually required to determine responsibility and fault when car-pedestrian accidents result in serious personal injuries or death in Washington D.C. and Virginia. D.C. personal injury attorneys confer with police and insurance investigators and interview eyewitnesses to determine precisely what happened when serious personal injury accidents occur.

Washington D.C. personal injury attorneys conduct accident investigations for their clients and protect their legal rights so that victims and their families can concentrate on recovery or, when an accident victim dies, on grieving for their loved one. If you suffer personal injuries in an accident in Washington D.C. or Virginia, contact an experienced personal injury attorney. 

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Independence Day celebrations  turned tragic for some Virginia families. A deadly personal injury car accident in Fairfax County, Virginia killed a man and injured four young people in the early morning hours of July 5. Six people riding in a Ford Explorer hit a tree on Route 641 near Clifton, Virginia. A 31-year-old man was ejected from the vehicle and died of his injuries at the scene. Four other passengers ranging in age from 14 to 21 suffered serious personal injuries and were transported to the hospital. The 20-year-old driver was unhurt. Police are investigating the Virginia car accident but said the driver appears to have been speeding.

When Virginia personal injury car accidents occur, accident victims and their families are besieged with hospital and doctor bills, rehabilitation schedules and complicated insurance forms. Insurance companies anxious to close their files often pressure accident victims to settle claims. But some accident injuries may require weeks or months of rehabilitation, and it can be more than a year before the full extent of recovery or impairment is known. When catastrophic injuries occur, medical intervention may be necessary for years. Sometimes car accident victims face lifelong disability.

Washington D.C. and Virginia personal injury car accident victims and their families should be able to concentrate on the recovery and, when death occurs, on grieving for their loved ones. When accidents occur, an experienced Virginia personal injury attorney can advise you of your rights and help you obtain the compensation to which you are entitled.

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Car accidents are the number one killer of teens in Washington D.C. and Virginia. Every year more than 4,000 teens across the U.S. lose their lives in auto accidents and thousands more suffer serious, often life-altering, personal injuries. Distracted driving is the primary cause of teen personal injury car accidents and may have contributed to the tragic death of a Greater D.C. area teen early this week.

Seventeen-year-old Justin Dorsey of Gaithersburg, Maryland was one of 5 teens in a car driven by 17-year-old Ryan Sparks, also of Gaithersburg, when Sparks' vehicle swerved across the road and crashed head-on into an oncoming car driven by Daniel Schwartz, 31, of Burke, Virginia. Schwartz, Sparks and the other teens were treated for minor personal injuries at a Washington D.C. area hospital and released. Their friend Dorsey died of his injuries at the hospital. 

New drivers, teens are often distracted while driving by noisy or rambunctious passengers, loud music, cell phone use, texting or eating. In their inexperience they fail to realize the concentration required to drive safely. Many choose to ignore local laws limiting passengers and prohibiting texting that are aimed at keeping teen drivers safe. Tragic personal injury car accidents and deaths are the result.

To combat distracted driving by teens, a bill to create a nationwide Graduated Driver Licensing system has been introduced in both houses of Congress. If you or your teen is the victim of a car accident, consult a Washington D.C. personal injury lawyer about your rights.

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Three people suffered serious personal injuries in a Virginia multi-car traffic accident yesterday. The most seriously injured accident victim was transported to the University of Virginia Medical Center. Two other accident victims were taken to area hospitals. According to witnesses, the 63-year-old male driver of a white Hyundai crossed the center line and struck three oncoming vehicles in Augusta County, Virginia. The driver of the Hyundai was found to be suffering from low blood sugar, a medical condition that can cause dizziness and extreme fatigue. Virginia police are investigating the accident.

Vehicle accidents are the most common cause of serious personal injuries in Washington D.C. and Virginia. Severe personal injuries sustained in a car, truck or motorcycle accident can leave accident victims and their families struggling with expensive hospital charges and doctor bills, months of rehabilitative treatment and loss of income during recovery. Severe personal injuries can result in life-changing disabilities and place enormous financial and emotional strain on accident victims and their families. In the most tragic D.C. and Virginia vehicle accidents, families are left to grieve for their loved ones and struggle to rebuild their lives.

D.C and Virginia personal injury attorneys take the burden off struggling accident victims and their families, allowing them to focus all their energy and resources on recovery. If you or someone you love is involved in a serious personal injury accident, contact an experienced D.C. or Virginia personal injury attorney immediately. 

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Gradys Mendoza died in a D.C. traffic accident on the Capital Beltway last year, killed by a drunk driver. The Virginia home builder and his friend, Franklin Manzanares, were on their way home to their families when Kelli Loos rammed her Jeep Cherokee into the back of Mendoza's truck, sending it careening over a guardrail and tumbling down a 60-foot ravine. Both men suffered traumatic personal injuries and died at the scene.

Loos, then 33, had been drinking with a friend that evening. Her erratic driving on the Beltway that night elicited several calls to 911 prior to the tragic personal injury car accident that took two lives. Loos failed to stop after she hit Mendoza's truck, crashing her Jeep a short time later. When arrested, her blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit.

Last week 47 friends and family members met at a Maryland courthouse to pay tribute to Mendoza at the sentencing of the woman who killed him. Tears flowed when his now 13-year-old daughter talked about the things she will never do with her father.

Memorial Day weekend is one of the heaviest traffic weekends of the year. Every day 32 people in the U.S. die in motor vehicle accidents caused by drunk drivers. Drinking is a factor in 32% of all highway fatalities. Drive safely this weekend. If you are involved in traffic accident with a drunk driver, consult a DC personal injury lawyer about your rights.

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A tragic personal injury car accident in southeast Washington DC killed one motorist and injured six others, including four children. The head-on collision between a Toyota Camry and a speeding van on April 19, 2010, occurred when the van swerved over the center median and into the path of the oncoming car. The force of the collision sent the van tumbling. Eyewitnesses to the DC personal injury accident said the van overturned several times, spilling fuel and knocking down utility wires before bursting into flames. HazMat crews and more than 50 fire rescue workers were rushed to the scene.  

The driver of the Camry suffered severe injuries and died at the crash site. Four children who were passengers in the Camry were also severely injured and were transported to various Washington DC area hospitals. The driver of the van and a passenger, who had to be cut from the burning van, were also taken to area medical centers with burns and other injuries. Police are investigating.

When DC auto accidents result in serious personal injuries or death, a DC personal injury lawyer can investigate to determine who was at fault and who bears responsibility for paying for medical bills, lost income, permanent damage and, in the most tragic cases, loss of life. 

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Beleaguered Japanese automaker Toyota recalled 10,000 Lexus sport-utility vehicles yesterday for a possible rollover danger. Last week Toyota halted production of its 2010 Lexus GX 460 SUV after consumer magazine Consumer Reports labeled the SUV a "safety risk" on its blog site. In driving tests, Consumer Reports auto safety experts found that the vehicle's rear end had a distinct tendency to slide out and become dangerously unstable when performing common maneuvers such as entering and exiting highway ramps. The magazine felt the rollover danger so significant that it took the unusual measure of immediately and strongly warning readers of the safety risk. The magazine charged that the electronic stability control on the GX 460 didn't intervene quickly enough to prevent serious handling difficulties caused when braking reduced engine power.

Smarting from the $16.4 million fine imposed over its slow response to accelerator recall issues, Toyota acted quickly to pull off the road all 9,400 2010 Lexus GX 460 SUVs manufactured. Since they went on sale in December, 5,600 of the SUVs have been sold and 3,800 remain on dealer lots in the Washington DC and Virginia areas and across the country.

Toyota faces dozens of personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits from accidents caused by defective accelerator pedals. If you have been in an accident involving a Toyota vehicle, contact a Virginia or Washington DC personal injury lawyer about your legal rights.

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Toyota's accelerator problems were back in the Washington DC news yesterday, but this time the fallen auto maker was not deemed at fault. The woman who complained about a runaway acceleration problem with her Prius was found to have panicked and stepped on the gas instead of the brake. Human, not mechanical, error was at fault in the ensuing accident, investigators ruled. It was one bright note in a gathering storm of personal injury accident lawsuits and defective product claims against Toyota.

Toyota may be in the spotlight now, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says personal injury auto accidents caused by runaway acceleration have also been a problem for other auto makers, particularly Ford and Chrysler. NHTSA investigators have linked sudden acceleration to 110 traffic fatalities in the past 10 years. According to NHTSA investigators, 51 of those fatalities were caused by Toyota vehicles. The other 59 deaths were caused by  vehicles made by other auto makers, with Ford vehicles cited in 20 traffic fatalities and Chrysler in 12.

Washington DC area residents who have been involved in a car accident that resulted in personal injury or death should contact a Assaad Law, a Washington DC personal injury attorney to review their case and legal rights.

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Many people call me searching for an attorney after they were involved in a car accident.  After they tell me that they were hit from behind and it is not their fault, usually the next question become "How much is my case worth?"
 
The simple answer is "I do not know."  There are a lot of factors that go in to determining the amount of money a car accident victim can obtain.  First, if there is no bodily damage or injury as a result of the car accident, then most likely, YOU WILL NOT NEED AN ATTORNEY.  I understand first hand the inconvenience that a car accident causes, hour on the phone with the insurance company, travel to and from the body shop, renting a car, etc.  But for the most part, your insurance company should handle the property damage costs as well as the rental car costs. 
 
However, if you are injured in a auto accident, before you make any deals with the insurance company, you should consult an attorney.  Why?  Because the insurance adjustor handles these claims for a living and knows that if he/she can settle the claim quick with the injured person, they are saving A LOT of money in the future.  Insurance companies are in the business of making money, that means high premiums low payouts.  They want you to settle the claim quick with out an attorney because they know that if an attorney gets involved their costs rise quickly.  They spend millions of dollars a year trying to make the trial lawyer look like a greedy person, but in actually they are spending millions of dollars so that people do not use the trial lawyer to protect their rights, i.e. savings to the insurance company. 
 
If you are injured, most of the time, your case is worth more if you hire an attorney (even after you take out the attorney's fees).  This is because the trial attorney is experiences in determing not only your present damages that you can claim but futire damages too (medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering).
 
Therefore, when you are considering settling a claim with an insurance adjustor or retaining a lawyer, ask yourself "How much is my case worth?" with an attorney representing me or on my own.  Remember, once you sign the settlement with the insurance company, there is no second chance.

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