Articles Posted in Car Accidents

Car insurance can be difficult to understand. Because of the many variables, when people get into an accident, they do not know what they deserve under their coverage, not to mention under the other driver’s insurance. Here are three of the most common factors of car insurance policies relevant to accident coverage:

1.     Liability Limits

Liability limits determine the amount of money available to compensate someone in the event that you cause an accident. This coverage is designed to protect your personal assets from being taken to collect compensation if your negligence causes them injury or other damage. You should generally select a level of liability that corresponds with the amount of assets you have to cover. Liability limits are generally determined when you select a plan, but can be adjusted according to your insurance company’s policies.

A teenage driver operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol level of .08 percent is approximately 17 times more likely to be involved in a car accident, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Research has shown that teenagers, as a group, are more likely to be susceptible to peer pressure, are more inexperienced, and are more likely to engage in risky driving behaviors. When intoxicants such as drugs or alcohol are added to the mix, the risk of causing a car accident significantly increases.

Teenagers Susceptible to Peer Pressure

The CDC has stated that reducing the risk of drunk driving accidents caused by teenagers should not only be dependent upon local law enforcement, state, and federal enforcement measures, but it should also be the responsibility of parents, schools, and communities as well. In 2014, a study illustrated how great the impact of peer pressure can have on influencing teenagers to drink and drive. According to researchers, when high school seniors saw their friends drive while intoxicated, they were more inclined to do the same. Similarly, when their friends engaged in risky behaviors, many teenagers viewed these behaviors as “cool” and desired to act in the same manner.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the U.S. could vastly improve the ways in which it attempts to save lives and reduce the number of personal injuries sustained in car accidents each year. Although it may seem as though the country is making progress in reducing the number of accidents that occur on the country’s roadways, many feel as though the U.S. is still lagging behind other countries, including those in Asia and Europe, in reducing the number of wrongful deaths that occur due to car accidents.

The U.S. is Safe, but Not the Safest

In 2010, the number of wrongful deaths resulting from car accidents was at an all-time low and that number has been steadily declining over the past decade. With statistics like this, it may become easy for some to feel comfortable on the nation’s streets and mistakenly believe that drivers in the U.S. are much safer here than in other countries.

According to the Governor’s Office of Consumer Protection, traffic accidents are the leading cause of injuries and death for children under the age of 13 in Georgia. Many people are still unaware of the safest ways to properly restrain children in cars so that they are protected in the event of a crash. Proper use of an appropriate child restraint system can drastically reduce the number of children hurt and killed in auto accidents.

Proper Restraint Systems Can Save Children’s Lives

It is vastly important for parents to know the proper way to buckle children in cars so that they are not injured in case of an accident. Using proper restraint systems not only could save your child’s life, but it is the law. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration offers the following guidelines for car seats for children:

In many instances, an insurance settlement may be the best or only option that victims have to resolve a claim. In some cases, however, an out-of-court settlement may be more appropriate. However, it is important to understand that the same car accident can have two very different outcomes, depending on the option that the victim chooses.

Insurance Claim Settlements

If you have been injured in a car accident, keep following basic considerations of insurance claim settlements in mind before speaking with an insurance company or agreeing to a payment amount. There are some cases in which an insurance claim settlement may be in your best interest, including:

In an effort to reduce the amount of a car insurance premium, many people look at MedPay as an option to remove. MedPay can actually be worth keeping and many people may even want to considering increasing its amount, rather than reducing it. When seeking a settlement, it can be a long time until you see any compensation. Your own health insurance may provide coverage but this may be after deductibles and co-pays are met. With MedPay, medicals bills are taken care of up to the coverage limit that you have. You are protected, as well as your family or others that were driving in your vehicle. There is no deductible or co-pay and coverage is offered regardless of who is at fault, as well as regardless of who was driving. Coverage continues whether you are driving with someone else, walking or taking public transportation.

The death of a 15-year-old girl last month reminds Georgia residents that car surfing can be extremely dangerous and should never be attempted. According to the story on My Fox Atlanta, last month a teenage girl was compelled to stand on her friend’s car roof while it sped down the road. The goal of car-surfing is to refrain from falling off the car while it is moving at a high speed down a road. It is extremely dangerous, and many teens are injured or killed doing this sport every single year.

Normally, a teenager who chooses to car-surf will be held accountable for his or her own actions. Yet if the teenager only got on the car because of intense peer pressure or if other factors attributed to the teen’s death, then he or she may have the right to seek compensation from another party-at-fault.

With the right attorney on your side, you may be able to prove that you could have been spared from injuries if another person had not been so negligent. You can also seek compensation in a wrongful death case if your loved one was killed. Parents are encouraged to teach their teens the dangers of car-surfing and encourage them not to give into peer pressure when they are asked to do dangerous activities like this one.