Collier & Collier

Protecting the rights of injured persons since 1973

In a Tractor Trailer Accident? Call Collier

Personal Injury

Semi truck tractor trailer riachmond

Tractor-trailer accidents cause significant damage and often cost trucking companies a lot of money. For this reason, they employ insurance companies who will begin investigating immediately in order to minimize their costs and pay you as little as possible. This means, that in the event of a tractor-trailer accident, you should contact an attorney for legal help as soon as possible.

The most important things to do after an accident involving a large tractor-trailer are:

Get to safety: Get safely off the road. One of the most important things to do will be to remove yourself, and everyone involved, from the danger zone. If you can move your car, try to remove it from the roadway and the path of traffic. Do this in the safest manner possible and move your car as far as possible from the lanes of traffic. This will help avoid secondary accidents. Make sure you get the help you need. Once the police and paramedics have arrived it is important that you follow their directions.

Record and report everything: Report all facts to the police if asked. It is important to be honest and truthful and respond to their questions. Furthermore, do not feel the need to give unnecessary information to the police at the scene. If you do not feel that you can give an accurate statement to the police because of your mental state, be honest with the officer and advise him/her that you cannot give them an accurate statement at that time.

Contact your insurance agency: Find out how they will handle recovery of your vehicle. If they have a response team they may come out to inspect the scene. Make sure you disclose any possible injuries to them and write down the claim number they assign to the case. Collect as much information as possible. Once things start to calm down and all emergency situations have been resolved, it is important for you to try to get as much information as you can. You cannot assume that the police will collect all the information you may need to preserve your rights.

Get to the hospital to asses injuries: No matter how you initially feel after an accident, it is important to seek medical attention in close proximity to the accident date. We suggest the day of or the day after the accident occurs. Not only will this help solidify the accident as a potential cause of any lasting injuries, but it also ensures your safety and well-being.

If youve been involved in an accident with a tractor-trailer, call the experienced Richmond tractor trailer accident lawyers of Collier & Collier, P.C. at 804-364-5200. We help clients in Richmond and beyond receive full compensation for their injuries.

Black Friday is dangerous. And, as expected, quite a few people were injured while trying to take advantage of some shopping deals this year. It can be valuable to take a look at this year’s injuries, how they might have been avoided, and what lawsuits may follow.

Here’s a rundown of 2017’s Black Friday injuries:

Shooting, Stabbing in Sears Parking Lot

Houston Police blamed Black Friday for a brawl between two men in a Sears parking lot that led to one of them being shot and the other being stabbed. “We don’t know if they know each other, we don’t know if they got into an argument inside the mall and they came out here, we don’t know any of that,” Sergeant Richard Rodriguez told Houston’s Fox26. “Basically, it’s Black Friday, a lot of people shopping, a lot of activity.” Both men were taken to the hospital, and there may be some assault and battery lawsuits coming, in addition to any criminal charges.

Missouri Mall Mishap

Another shooting at a mall in Columbia — this one after midnight on Thanksgiving — left a Missouri man with life-threatening injuries. At this point, it’s not certain whether the shooting was intentional or accidental, as both men involved knew each other, and the shooting occurred inside a vehicle, possibly while one was trying to holster the weapon. Even unintended shootings can be the subject of injury lawsuits, if the person with the gun was acting negligently.

‘Bama Brawl

Some more shoppers trying to get a head start on Black Friday deals in Alabama ended up shutting down the mall instead. While initial reports of gunshots were debunked, video posted to social media shows two females fighting it out in the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover, both sustaining minor injuries. As the New York Post reports:

One witness said the fight happened at a store called Buckle. In the middle of the fight, a shoe flew over the railing and hit a baby one level below — and that sparked a second skirmish, an onlooker said.

And, if you’re wondering, yes — you can sue someone for beating you up.

Hopefully you made it through Black Friday unscathed. If not, contact the law offices of Collier & Collier, P.C. at 1-804-368-6368 or toll free at 1-877-825-0543 for a free consultation to discuss your case.

iphone-410324_640In the chaos of a car accident, you can be incapacitated, incoherent, or otherwise kept from contacting your emergency contacts. It is obviously important to notify loved ones of your condition and location in the event of a car accident or other emergency, but when incapacitated, it is impossible to do so.

In order to counteract this, the DMV of Virginia offers a special program to set and forget your emergency contact information so that it will be in the hands of those who can help exactly when they need it. The Emergency Contact Program is available to people with any valid Virginia drivers license or ID card. Per the DMV website: You can add, modify, or delete up to two emergency contacts at any time. Your information will be securely stored by DMV and will be accessible only by law enforcement in the event of an emergency.

To enroll a minor under the age of 18, the parent or guardian will have to create a DMV pin for themselves, and then add the necessary information. Children under the age of 15 will need to have a child ID registered with the DMV.

In addition to the program offered by the DMV, you may want to utilize a special feature of the iPhone if you own one. iPhones can store emergency contact information and medical notes so thats its accessible to anyone from your lock screen. On iOS version 8.0 and later, iOS products have an Apple Health app.

To add emergency information on your device:

  1. Open the Apple Health app, which is installed on all iOS devices running iOS 8 and later. This app cant be uninstalled.
  2. Tap on Medical ID in the bottom right corner.
  3. Tap Create Medical ID.
  4. At the very top, make sure Show When Locked is turned on (to green). Fill in as much information as is relevant to you. If you have no known allergies or arent taking medication, it still helps to write None or None known so that medical personnel dont assume youve overlooked these fields.
  5. Make sure you assign at least one person as your emergency contact person. You must save that persons name and phone number in your Contacts app for the Health app to be able to include it.
  6. Hit Done to save.

To test that the app has worked properly, lock your phone. Now wake it up but dont fully unlock it with the passcode or Touch ID (thumbprint). When you slide to get to the passcode screen, you should see Emergency at the bottom. Press it, and a new screen appears with a number keypad to dial, as well as Medical ID in the bottom left. Press Medical ID, and youll see your information appear along with a phone icon that, when pressed, will automatically dial your ICE contact.

After an automobile accident, you may require multiple surgeries, extensive rehabilitation or long-term care. Our Richmond car accident attorneys have worked on many cases similar to yours, and we are familiar with the future expenses you may incur. We will obtain full and fair compensation for your physical injuries and your past, present and future losses.

Contact the law offices of Collier & Collier, P.C. at 1-804-364-5200 for a free consultation to discuss your case. Let us put our resources to work for you.

Truck on Highway.

Tractor trailer accidents cause significant damage and often cost trucking companies a lot of money. For this reason, they employ big insurance companies who will begin investigating immediately in order to minimize their costs and pay you as little as possible. This means, that in the event of a tractor trailer accident, you should contact an attorney for legal help as soon as possible.

The most important things to do after an accident involving a large tractor trailer are:

Assess the situation: The FIRST Thing you should do is to assess any injuries you have. If you are injured, or think you might be then try to remain calm and await medical attention. If you are certain you can move without aggravating any serious injury, assess the safety of the scene and the extent of injury to anyone else involved in the accident. Look for any emergency situations, like a car on fire, or someone with a life threatening emergency. Ensure that someone has contacted 911 to report the accident.

Get to safety: Get safely off the road. One of the most important things to do will be to remove yourself, and everyone involved, from the danger zone. If you can move your car, try to remove it from the roadway and the path of traffic. Do this in the safest manner possible and move your car as far as possible from the lanes of traffic. This will help avoid secondary accidents. Make sure you get the help you need. Once the police and paramedics have arrived it is important that you follow their directions.

Record and report everything: Report all facts to the police if asked. It is important to be honest and truthful and respond to their questions. Furthermore, do not feel the need to give unnecessary information to the police at the scene. If you do not feel that you can give an accurate statement to the police because of your mental state, be honest with the officer and advise him/her that you cannot give them an accurate statement at that time.

Contact your insurance agency: Find out how they will handle recovery of your vehicle. If they have a response team they may come out to inspect the scene. Make sure you disclose any possible injuries to them and write down the claim number they assign to the case. Collect as much information as possible. Once things start to calm down and all emergency situations have been resolved, it is important for you to try to get as much information as you can. You cannot assume that the police will collect all the information you may need to preserve your rights.

If youve been involved in an accident with a tractor trailer, call the experienced Richmond tractor trailer accident lawyers of Collier & Collier, P.C. at 804-364-5200. We help clients in Richmond and beyond receive full compensation for their injuries.

boat-713655_640

Warm weather means fishing, swimming, tanning, and boating here in Virginia. With added volume on the waterways, it is important to refresh yourself on water safety before you leave the dock. Small mistakes can lead to big problems in crowded water.

We have 5 tips that will you keep your boating experiences safer and more enjoyable:

  1. Know the law about life jackets. Even in states with no life jacket laws, the U.S. Coast Guard requires that children under 13 on moving boats wear a Coast Guard-approved life jacket, according to the BoatUS Foundation.
  2. Watch the weather.Although boat safety and communications technology has come a long way, if you get caught out on the water in rough weather, you may be risking your life.
  3. Don’t drink and boat! Drinking and boating can dramatically increase the odds that you’ll be injured. Boating under the influence increases the odds of a boating fatality by 34 percent, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. It’s also against the law.
  4. Don’t turn down your emergency radio. This lesson comes from a real-life tragedy: The owners of a Philadelphia duck boat settled a wrongful death suit for $15 million after two tourists were killed in a crash. The boat’s first mate had turned down his emergency radio and missed crash warnings.
  5. If you’re renting a boat, read your liability waiver carefully. If you are renting a boat, you’re likely to be asked to sign a liability waiver. Whether or not you actually read it, you’ll probably be bound by it if anything goes wrong. Make sure you know what you’re agreeing to.

Any injury that occurs on or with a boat, ship, ferry, wave runner, or Jet Ski is considered a boating accident. This includes slip and fall accidents, collisions with swimmers, and falls overboard. If youve been hurt in a boating accident, contact the law offices of Collier & Collier right away at 1-804-364-5200 or toll free at 1-877-825-0543.

Contact Collier & Collier for a FREE Consultation CALL NOW 804-364-5200