The post What is a “No Contact” Motorcycle Accident? appeared first on The Floyd Law Firm, P.C..
]]>Most traffic accidents involve two vehicles in a collision or a full-sized vehicle and a motorcycle. A later investigation reveals whether the driver or the rider’s negligence caused the accident, leaving them liable for damages. But what happens when no actual collision occurs but a motorcyclist still crashes due to a driver’s negligence? What is a no-contact motorcycle accident?
No-contact motorcycle accidents sometimes occur in Missouri and elsewhere. These accidents are also called “phantom collisions” or “phantom driver accidents.” A no-contact motorcycle accident occurs when one driver’s actions cause a motorcycle to crash without a collision. Motorcyclists face a greater risk of no-contact accidents than standard vehicles because the two-wheeled design of a motorcycle increases the risk of tipping or “laying down” when a rider makes a sudden swerve or turn to avoid a collision. In no-contact motorcycle accidents, a driver’s negligence causes the motorcyclist to swerve away or slam on the brakes to avoid a collision. When a Missouri motorcyclist loses control while avoiding a collision and has an accident, it’s a no-contact or “phantom” collision.
No-contact motorcycle accidents typically result from driver negligence or reckless driving. Drivers who share the road with motorcyclists have a duty to take all reasonable measures to avoid causing an accident with a vulnerable motorcyclist. No-contact or “phantom-driver” motorcycle accidents often result from the following:
When any of the above negligent actions cause a motorcyclist to swerve, it could result in a no-contact accident. A motorcyclist’s defensive maneuvers leave a motorcyclist vulnerable to injuries due to a tip-over, an accidental “lay-down” or driving off the road even when the at-fault driver did not make contact with the motorcycle.
Proving liability in a no-contact motorcycle accident presents a significant challenge. Fortunately, most who cause an accident with a motorcycle stop to help. Sometimes they admit fault to the motorcyclist or law enforcement, but some negligent drivers may leave the scene of the accident. In some no-contact accidents, the driver never realizes they caused a crash. Others may leave the scene to avoid the legal and financial consequences.
Proving negligence and liability after no-contact motorcycle accidents takes a thorough investigation through traffic camera footage, a motorcycle’s dash cam video, and eyewitness testimony. With sufficient evidence proving driver negligence, the negligent driver is liable for damages.
In some cases of no-contact motorcycle crashes in Missouri, the injured rider must make a claim with their own insurance to pay for their property damage and medical expenses. A St. Louis motorcycle accident lawyer with experience in no-contact motorcycle accidents can help an injury victim recover compensation in these challenging cases.
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]]>The post How Is Pain and Suffering Calculated in Missouri? appeared first on The Floyd Law Firm, P.C..
]]>For injury victims with clear evidence that they sustained serious, painful, life-altering injuries, the amount of compensation they receive for their pain and suffering often far exceeds the amount of their economic damages. Clear evidence includes proof of the at-fault party’s liability as well as the victim’s medical report from the treatment they received immediately after suffering the injury. Often, medical expert witnesses testify about the impacts of the victim’s type of injury on their life and the level of pain they feel. The elements of pain and suffering in Missouri may include the following:
These intangible losses may be more difficult to assign a monetary value compared to the economic costs of an injury, but for injury victims, these are the most devastating consequences of the injury. Financial compensation cannot erase pain and suffering but it adds to the total amount of compensation awarded to the victim so they have access to the best care with fewer worries about financial hardship.
Missouri law has no law or official formula for calculating non-economic damages in a personal injury claim. Typically, insurers and attorneys use one of two common methods to arrive at a monetary number for a victim’s pain and suffering:
Once the injury victim’s attorney arrives at a monetary amount for pain and suffering damages, they present the amount to the insurance company of the person or business who caused the injury. The insurance adjuster assigned to the case reviews the evidence and then negotiates with the injury victim and their lawyer until they arrive at a mutually agreeable settlement amount. However, if the insurance company seriously undervalues the claim of pain and suffering or wrongfully denies the claim completely, the case proceeds to court in a lawsuit.
If a case goes to court, the injury victim and their attorney present evidence and testimony to prove the at-fault party’s liability and the serious impacts of the injury on the victim’s life, including their pain and suffering. Statements by medical experts on the type and duration of pain involved in the victim’s injury and treatment as well as medical records, photos, and testimony from family members and the victim themselves are all evidence presented to the jury. Although court litigation for personal injury claims in Missouri takes longer than a settlement, jury awards for damages—including for pain and suffering—are often larger than a settlement.
To speak to someone about your claim, contact a St. Louis injury attorney today.
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]]>The post Do You Have to File a Police Report After a Car Accident in Missouri? appeared first on The Floyd Law Firm, P.C..
]]>Missouri law compels car accident victims to report most accidents to the police. If you have any doubts or concerns about whether you should report a car accident, it’s always best to err on the side of caution by reporting the accident. There are several important reasons to make the call, even if the damage is minimal or unnoticeable.
Some car accidents must be reported under Missouri law within 30 days of the occurrence. This includes accidents with any of the following circumstances:
The police come to an accident scene whenever there are injuries, fatalities, or when an accident impedes traffic flow. In cases of minor accidents with no injuries and minimal property damage, the police may not come to the scene if they cannot spare the officers from other duties. In this case, drivers should exchange contact information and insurance information. It’s always best to take photos of the damaged vehicles and the accident scene and take down the contact information of any eyewitnesses. If the police cannot come to the scene of a minor accident, you can drive to a police station in the vicinity and report the accident with the information you’ve documented.
Although the law allows up to 30 days to report an accident, it’s always best to report it right away.
There are many reasons to file a police report after an accident, even if the damage is minimal and there are no injuries. However, it’s not uncommon for damages to appear later. For example, a car that appears to have little more than a scratch may develop a leak in the cooling system due to the impact. If you didn’t file a police report, there is no evidence linking the damage to an accident so you’ll be unable to make a claim for compensation against the negligent driver’s insurance. Even worse, if you later discover an injury—such as a nagging backache that’s diagnosed as a broken or ruptured disc—you have no official record of an accident and no evidence to show that the injury occurred in the accident.
By reporting even minor traffic accidents the police gather important information, including contact and insurance information, as well as an officer’s assessment. This helps prove fault for the accident later when you make a claim for property damage and personal injury expenses.
Most insurance policies require accident victims to report the accident within several days of the occurrence. Failure to report an accident to your insurance company could result in a claim denial if you caused the accident and may impact your claim even if you were not at fault.
Insurance companies are far more likely to deny a claim if there is no police report of the accident, and/or if you failed to promptly report it to your insurance company. By following the protocol for reporting an accident to the police and your insurance company, and seeking treatment right away for any injuries, you’ll greatly increase the likelihood of a successful claim for compensation later.
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]]>The post Can a Car Accident Cause Fibromyalgia? appeared first on The Floyd Law Firm, P.C..
]]>Most serious injuries from a car accident are immediately apparent when paramedics arrive on the scene and take accident victims to the hospital. But what if a Missouri car accident victim notices unusual symptoms months after the accident and receives a diagnosis of fibromyalgia? Insurance companies may assert that this is a mere coincidence, but research supports a connection between car accidents and the development of fibromyalgia.
Insurance companies protect their profits by using their insurance adjusters to investigate accident claims, with undervaluing them or denying them completely as their objective. Insurance companies commonly deny a car accident victim’s claim for medical expenses for fibromyalgia in Missouri injury claims, often labeling it as a pre-existing condition or one unrelated to the accident. It takes a skilled attorney to present compelling evidence that a car accident has caused a victim’s fibromyalgia so the victim can claim it as part of their damages in a car accident claim.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic medical condition affecting the musculoskeletal system. Research has long been unclear on the cause of fibromyalgia, which impacts many Americans—predominantly women. Fibromyalgia causes an amplification of pain signals felt in the body so a person with the condition often experiences symptoms that range from tenderness in specific parts of the body to chronic, debilitating widespread pain. Those diagnosed with fibromyalgia commonly complain of brain fog, difficulty concentrating, mood changes, and overall fatigue.
The symptoms of Fibromyalgia may be periodic, so a person diagnosed with the condition may have good days and bad, or the symptoms may be continuous, depending on the severity of the disease. A growing body of evidence suggests fibromyalgia may be related to earlier bodily trauma experienced by those with the condition—including the physical trauma of a car accident.
Studies show that car accident victims have a greater chance of developing fibromyalgia. Reliable research shows a connection between the severe physical and emotional trauma experienced in a car accident and the changes that later develop within the body’s pain receptors. Research suggests these changes may result from over-stimulation of the nervous system. This results in an increase in the individual’s sensitivity to pain.
The pain associated with fibromyalgia may be debilitating, but how does a car accident victim recover compensation for the medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering of fibromyalgia when insurers fail to acknowledge a direct link to an accident?
Missouri’s generous five-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims allows many sufferers of fibromyalgia to later claim their damages within five years of a car accident. An accident attorney in Missouri consults with medical experts and examines your medical records to file a claim for damages from accident-related fibromyalgia, including the following:
Car accident victims may recover substantial compensation for pain and suffering when a skilled St. Louis car accident attorney gathers evidence to present a compelling case to the insurance company, showing that fibromyalgia has a direct link to the trauma of a car accident.
If a negligent driver caused the accident, they are liable for all damages up to the limit of the at-fault driver’s policy. If the insurer wrongfully denies the claim, your attorney may file a Missouri car accident lawsuit within the state’s statute of limitations and recover compensation through a court award for damages. A successful claim for damages brings financial relief and a sense of justice to car accident victims who now suffer chronic pain due to fibromyalgia.
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]]>The post What Damages Can You Recover After a Missouri Car Accident? appeared first on The Floyd Law Firm, P.C..
]]>Car accidents cause significant expenses, often far beyond the property damage to your vehicle. When someone else’s actions behind the wheel caused the accident, they’re responsible for the damage they caused to others. The compensation is typically paid out to victims through the at-fault party’s auto insurance coverage. Before a car accident claim is successful, your accident attorney must investigate the circumstances of the accident and document compelling evidence of the at-fault party’s liability. Proving liability requires documenting evidence of the following legal points of liability:
Proving damages requires showing evidence of lost wages and medical costs and then careful calculations to maximize the amount you can recover for non-economic damages like pain and suffering.
Negligent drivers are the most common liable parties in Missouri car accidents, but in some instances, the manufacturer of a defective auto part or a negligent road maintenance agency could bear liability.
All car accident and injury claims are unique, depending on the circumstances of the accident, the amount of property damage, and the extent of the injuries suffered by the victim. However, common damages claimed in Missouri car accident cases include the following:
In some car accident claims, additional non-economic damages apply. Depending on the circumstances, other non-economic damages cited in Missouri car accident claims sometimes include emotional trauma, disfigurement compensation, loss of enjoyment of life, or loss of consortium—the full emotional and physical relationship with a loved one. In car accident fatality cases, close family members may make a claim for wrongful death with additional damages including funeral and burial costs, and the loss of a provider’s income for the number of working years they had left to them had they survived their injuries.
A skilled St. Louis car accident attorney will carefully calculate your damages to ensure that you miss no potential compensation owed to you after your Missouri car accident. Call today at (314) 863-4114 or contact us online for a free consultation.
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]]>The post Delayed Injury Symptoms After a Car Accident appeared first on The Floyd Law Firm, P.C..
]]>During the trauma of a car accident, the body sustains significant force in the crash. Even if you’re securely belted and your car’s airbags deploy, the sudden jarring stop after hurtling along at high speed causes a jolt to all body systems. Because of the combination of physical and emotional trauma in a car accident, stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol may temporarily mask a victim’s injury symptoms. Later, as the stress hormones ease away, masked injury symptoms may become much more obvious.
In other cases, injuries themselves worsen during the hours and days after the initial trauma occurs. Inflammation and internal bleeding can cause damage to the brain, thoracic cavity, back, neck, and limbs.
Even if you were lucky enough to walk away from a car accident, it doesn’t mean that you didn’t sustain injuries with delayed symptoms that reveal themselves later.
Trauma can occur in multiple body parts during an accident, including to the head, neck, back, torso, and limbs. It’s always best to have a complete medical evaluation after a car accident, but whether or not you have medical care immediately following the accident, in the hours and days that follow, it’s important to act quickly if you experience any of the following symptoms:
If you develop any of the above symptoms, go to a hospital for an examination as soon as possible.
It’s natural to want to leave a traumatic accident scene as soon as possible to go home to the loving support of your family; however, it’s critical to your physical and financial health to take steps to protect yourself. After a car accident, never leave the scene until you’re cleared by law enforcement. After an accident, you should always do the following:
At the hospital, it’s critical to tell the medical providers about all of your symptoms. Remember, even mild symptoms could worsen in the next hours or days. Ask for a full evaluation, and follow all of your doctor’s treatment recommendations carefully. Be sure to go back to the hospital if you develop any symptoms during the days after an accident.
Delayed symptoms can reveal serious or even catastrophic injuries, but sometimes it makes it difficult to recover damages due to the delay. The insurance company may argue that the injuries were not related to the accident if you’ve waited a significant period of time before seeking medical care. After you see your doctor, call a St. Louis car accident attorney to help you with your injury claim.
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]]>The post Qualities to Look for in a Missouri Personal Injury Lawyer appeared first on The Floyd Law Firm, P.C..
]]>If you’ve been injured through someone else’s actions or negligence, you shouldn’t be left responsible for the damages. In personal injury law—or tort law—in Missouri, the word “damages” refers to the economic consequences of an injury as well as the pain and suffering it causes. A successful claim provides compensation for common damages like medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. But the first step toward a full financial recovery, while you work on your physical recovery, is finding legal representation through the right personal injury attorney in St. Louis. Since most injury victims seeking a personal injury attorney are doing so for the first time, it helps to know what to look for to find the best personal injury attorney for your Missouri injury claim.
Before you choose the right personal injury attorney for your unique injury claim, it’s important to examine their track record in cases similar to your own. First, check to see if they’ve represented clients with cases in the same category as yours. For example, if you were injured by a defective product, you might not want to choose an attorney whose record includes mostly car accident claims.
After you’ve found an attorney who has handled many cases similar to your own, carefully examine their track record of successful settlements, large jury verdicts, and satisfied clients. A Missouri personal injury attorney with a strong track record of success offers the best chances of securing compensation for your damages.
When a personal injury attorney in Missouri has a good reputation in the community, they have access to important resources to help your case. This includes medical experts in your area, law enforcement officials, and accident reconstruction experts. An attorney’s good reputation makes it easier to obtain evidence like surveillance video footage or traffic camera videos. By choosing a Missouri personal injury lawyer with a track record of success in cases similar to your own and a strong reputation within your community you put a powerful voice behind your claim. Often, having an attorney’s good name behind your case is enough to convince an insurer to offer an ample settlement to avoid going to court.
The overwhelming majority of reputable personal injury attorneys in Missouri and elsewhere do not charge upfront fees. Instead, in personal injury law, good personal injury attorneys offer free initial case consultations and only take fees after they secure the victim’s settlement. Be sure to clarify with the attorney what percentage of your compensation they’ll take for their fee and that they only charge a fee if they win your case.
It’s important to have a good rapport with the person you choose as your personal injury attorney. Not only should they tell you how they prefer to communicate with you throughout the case—whether through text, email, or phone calls—but they should communicate effectively whether you’re face to face or through online communication. It’s essential to choose an attorney who’s both compassionate and confident and one that you feel comfortable with during the process of your claim and in court if necessary.
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]]>The post Should You Get a Second Opinion After a Workplace Injury? appeared first on The Floyd Law Firm, P.C..
]]>There are many reasons injured employees prefer to choose their chosen physicians, but workers’ compensation insurance doesn’t allow room for choice. Instead, this type of insurance compels injury victims to seek treatment through the doctor the employer approved for care—typically chosen from a list of providers given to the employer by the insurance company. If the physician chosen by the employer is a distance away from the injured employee’s residence, workers’ compensation insurance will pay travel expenses for up to 250 miles.
In some instances, it pays to ask the workers’ compensation insurer if they’ll allow you to see the doctor of your choice. Although the Department of Labor in Missouri doesn’t compel the employer or their workers’ compensation insurers to cover the doctor of the employee’s choice rather than that of the employer, in some instances the employer and insurer approve the request.
Although it’s completely within the employee’s rights to request a different physician, the employer and/or insurer often denies these requests. When that’s the case, many injured employees go on to seek second opinions if they’re dissatisfied with the assigned doctor’s determination in their case.
When a workers’ compensation insurer offers a settlement based on the medical report of he doctor assigned to your case, there are many reasons to seek a second opinion, including the following:
In Missouri Workers’ Compensation policies, the employer has the right to choose the physician assigned to your injury case. In order to receive benefits, injured employees must agree to an examination and treatment through the physician chosen by the employer. Although an injured employee must seek treatment through the specified doctor, they still have the right to make appointments with another doctor for a second opinion. Unfortunately, Workers’ Compensation Insurance won’t pay for an injured employee to get a second opinion, but many injury victims seek second opinions on their own, using their health insurance to pay for the evaluation.
If the physician of choice for a second opinion offers a different diagnosis, treatment recommendation, or prognosis than the doctor assigned to the patient, the employee still has few options other than to present the second opinion to the original doctor. If the second opinion varies widely from the first, it may benefit the injury victim to seek legal representation from a St. Louis workers’ compensation lawyer.
Workers’ compensation may terminate an employee’s injury benefits at any time if the employee refuses to submit to periodic examinations by the physician of the employer’s choice. During the employee’s treatment and recovery period, the employer and insurer must monitor the employee’s recovery process to determine when they’re able to return to work.
Contact the Floyd Law Firm today for a free legal consultation.
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]]>The post Missouri Statute of Limitations appeared first on The Floyd Law Firm, P.C..
]]>Personal injury compensation claims are among the most common claim types in Missouri. Missouri has a generous statute of limitations in place for personal injury claims. While most states have a two-year time limit, Missouri allows personal injury victims up to five years after an accident or injury incident in which to file a claim in court.
In medical malpractice injury claims, victims have only two years in which to file a claim.
Missouri also allows up to 5 years after an accident or other injury for victims to file a claim for compensation for written or verbal contract violations and for trespassing. Fraud and judgments have until 10 years for victims to file claims, as do those seeking the collection of debt. The statute of limitations for libel and slander is two years in Missouri.
The majority of civil claims, such as personal injury cases, are settled out of a courtroom through an attorney’s negotiations with the insurance company of the at-fault party. However, if the insurance company seriously undervalues a claim or wrongfully denies it, the victim and their lawyer may decide to pursue the matter in court. It’s urgent to file a lawsuit petition for a court case well within the state’s statute of limitations. Knowing the limit ahead of time lets the victim and their lawyer know how long they can work on documenting evidence and engaging in negotiations with the insurance company for a settlement before going to court if necessary.
In some circumstances, the state might “toll” or delay the statute of limitations, including for personal injury claims. These exceptions to the time limit include the following:
Even in cases of delayed discovery, Missouri allows no more than ten years from the date of the injury for victims to file lawsuits for personal injury or medical malpractice.
If you have questions about how the statute of limitations applies to your unique claim, speak to a St. Louis personal injury attorney during a free case consultation. Contact The Floyd Law Firm, P.C. today.
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]]>The post What is Standing And Why Does it Matter? appeared first on The Floyd Law Firm, P.C..
]]>“Standing” in legal terms refers to one party’s right to challenge another party in civil court. While criminal courts focus on punishing wrongdoers, civil courts exist to allow an injured party to seek redress through financial compensation. “Injuries” in court cases refer to all consequences of another’s actions with negative impacts on the victim. “Personal injuries” refers to actual physical injuries to one’s “person,” or body.
“Standing” is an individual’s ability and right to have their claim heard in court. Before a court accepts a claim or lawsuit, it first determines if a case has standing.
The US Supreme Court ruled that no legal case exists if a plaintiff does not have a personal stake in a lawsuit’s outcome. This means that the plaintiff must have a legal “cognizable” interest in the outcome of a case for it to have standing in court. For the civil court to recognize a case, the following points must show that the plaintiff has standing:
Requiring a case to have standing before the courts accept it prevents frivolous lawsuits and unnecessarily crowded judicial dockets for meritless claims.
If you or your loved one suffered an injury directly caused by another party’s negligence, reckless behavior, or purposeful wrongdoing, and the injury caused significant tangible financial losses as well as provable pain and suffering, then your personal injury case has standing in court. This means you have every right to file a claim for damages. “The word “damages” in a personal injury case refers to the economic damages from the injury such as medical expenses and lost income as well as non-economic damages like pain and suffering.
If you sustained an injury, but no one else was at fault, a court will dismiss the case for lack of standing. Likewise, if someone else’s actions caused you an injury, but the injury was so mild that you didn’t require medical care and you were able to continue working in your normal capacity, you didn’t suffer damages. In this case, the courts won’t accept the lawsuit because even a positive verdict showing that someone else did indeed cause your injury wouldn’t provide redress since you did not suffer any damages.
If you aren’t sure if your claim has standing, speak to a personal injury attorney about a free case consultation to evaluate the standing of your unique case. During your consultation, you’ll learn what you might expect from your claim.
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