Personal Injury Cases – Recht Law Offices

No matter what clever jingle your auto insurance firm’s advertising department has dreamed up, you must remember: They are not your friends. They are not “like a good neighbor” or “on your side” by any means.

This does not mean that you can’t get your car insurance company to work for you in the event of an accident with someone who is uninsured or underinsured. But if you were to go it alone, you would soon find out the hard truths. Vehicle insurance companies very rarely will grant you the maximum to which you are entitled without a fight, and usually only after you’ve involved the services of an experienced West Virginia accident attorney.

No matter what is alluded in the commercial, keep in mind that the bottom line of these firms is their bottom line. They want to minimize their own liability and pay you as little as possible.

Study reveals controversial insurance company tricks and tactics

Common insurance company tactics were outlined not long ago in a research article called, “Tricks of the Trade: How Insurance Companies Deny, Delay, Confuse and Refuse,” published by the American Association for Justice.

The authors focus on all different kinds of insurance, from housing insurance to health insurance. The article notes insurance companies systematically work to deny claims through a series of tried-and-true tactics that cross ethical lines and skate just this side of legal.

These tactics include denying virtually all claims outright, without any real consideration as to the veracity of that decision. Employers are given rewards when they deny a certain percentage of claims – and punished when they fail to meet that quota. Then there are efforts to thoroughly confuse consumers with contracts that contain extensive fine print, and which are written in such a way as to intentionally keeps consumers from understanding the type of coverage they have – or don’t have. These firms have also been caught dragging out cases as long as possible. Using tactics such as “lost” paperwork, countless customer service personnel who can’t keep the facts of your case straight, long telephone hold times and seemingly endless motion-filing in court, these firms are hoping that the claimants will either give up or die.

Knowing your rights after a West Virginia car accident

You are required by law to keep a minimum amount of auto liability coverage if you wish to drive a car legally in the state of West Virginia. Those amounts are $10,000 for property damage, $20,000 for one accident and one injury or death and $40,000 for one accident involving two injuries or death.

These amounts are very quickly exceeded when a serious accident occurs.

Drivers here are also required to maintain uninsured motorist coverage, which means if you hit someone who isn’t insured or whose coverage doesn’t fully compensate you for all damages, you can seek recompense from your own insurer.

But again, just because you have the coverage doesn’t mean your insurer will pay up without a fight. In addition to the aforementioned tactics, companies will also attempt to downplay the extent of injuries or damages. They might even try to say that under the circumstances, you weren’t covered at all.

Our attorneys successfully fought car insurance companies for years. Let us help you obtain the compensation you deserve.

Contact a West Virginia accident attorney at the Recht Law Offices.  Call 1-800-487-8546 today for a free consultation.

West Virginia was among six of the states studied recently by the Center for Epidemiology and Prevention at Columbia University, which determined marijuana-related car accidents have tripled in the last 10 years.

Clearly, drugged driving is rapidly becoming a serious problem, and the West Virginia car accident lawyers of The Recht Law Offices believe it’s time to fully address it.

Just recently in Keyser, WV, authorities reportedly happened upon an allegedly drugged driver when on officer spotted him using his cell phone while driving – an illegal act in this state. Not only was he operating the vehicle without a license, he was in possession of drugs and appeared to be impaired.

That no one was hurt before officers remove him from the road was pure chance.

According to the Columbia study, published recently in the American Journal of Epidemiology, one out of every nine drivers involved in deadly crashes during the study period tested positive for marijuana.

The researchers say if the trend continues, bolstered by the numerous states that have legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes, within five to six years, drugs could overtake alcohol in becoming the most common substance involved in impaired driving deaths.

Of course, this research defies what pro-marijuana advocates have been spouting for years, which is to say that marijuana is a “safe” drug, or at least safer than alcohol when used by those behind the wheel.

Driving and Marijuana Use Is a Dangerous Combination

The reality is, marijuana affects a driver’s ability in much the same way alcohol does. It affects a person’s vision, impairs judgment and can make a person more prone to distraction and risk-taking.

Researchers in this study looked at crash data from six states, including West Virginia. Not all have approved medical marijuana, but each regularly initiate toxicology tests on drivers in deadly wrecks.

In all, the study authors looked at information culled from some 23,500 drivers who died shortly after crashes that happened between 1999 and 2010.

Consistently throughout those 10 years, alcohol consumption appears to have played a substantial role in these cases, as it was involved in about 4 out of 10  incidents.

However, drugs are undoubtedly beginning to become more prevalent. While impairment due to drugs contributed to roughly 16 percent of traffic deaths in 1999, that figure shot up to nearly 30 percent by 2010.

While prescription drug abuse was certainly on the rise during that time, it was marijuana that was the most significant catalyst behind the increase. In 1999, marijuana was the main drug involved in less than 5 percent of fatal crashes. By 2010, that figure tripled to 12 percent.

In cases where a driver was found to have used both marijuana and alcohol, the chances of driver death increased dramatically. Someone driving under the influence of alcohol is 13 times more likely to die in a crash than a driver who is sober, researchers said. But a motorist who is impaired by both alcohol and marijuana is 24 times more likely to be killed in a crash than a person who hasn’t imbibed.

If you have been involved in a West Virginia car accident, contact The Recht Law Offices at (304) 748-5850 or by visiting www.rechtlaw.com for a free consultation.