Accident Testimony

Car accidents can be tragic with devastating results such as paralysis, brain injuries, and even death. Unfortunately, no one is immune from motor vehicle collisions. Sometimes we make poor driving decisions, and sometimes those around us drive recklessly or negligently. Even though you can control your own speed, wear your seatbelt, and avoid distracted driving, you cannot control the actions of the other drivers on the road. Below is a discussion of some of the infamous celebrity car accidents that have occurred over the years. See: Driving Under the Influence Accidents

1. James Dean – September 30, 1955 – 24 y/o

James Dean was driving his Porsche 550 Spyder; a Ford Tutor attempted to turn, crossing into Dean’s lane, causing a collision. Dean died shortly after the accident, and his passenger sustained a broken jaw after being ejected from the vehicle.

2. Princess Diana – August 31, 1997 – 36 y/o

Although we may never know exactly what caused this accident, whether the driver was attempting to evade Paparazzi, whether the driver was speeding or driving under the influence, one thing is clear: the car she was in hit a pole resulting in her death and two others.

3. Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes – April 25, 2002 – 30 y/o

Lopes was driving an SUV while speeding and she lost control, causing the SUV to flip over. She sustained a severe blow to her head that resulted in death at the scene of the collision.

4.Ryan Dunn – June 20, 2011 – 34 y/o

Dunn was drinking and driving when his car veered off the road and crashed into a tree. Both he and his passenger died in the accident.

5. Grace Kelly – September 14, 1982 – 52 y/o

While driving with her daughter, she likely suffered a stroke, causing her to lose control of her vehicle on a curve known as “Devil’s Curse.” Her Rover crashed through a barrier and went down the slope striking a tree.

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The commission contracts with the North Carolina Rate Bureau to collect information about when an employer purchases, renews, or cancels an insurance policy. The commission has acknowledged that it uses the database to find out which insurer is responsible for paying a claim, but it does not monitor for cancellations.

In June, legislators approved a bill that would require the commission to get all the information about these policies from the bureau so that it can more readily detect which employers do not carry the required insurance and enforce compliance. On July 2, Governor Bev Perdue signed the bill into law.

Prior to her signing the bill into law, many were calling on Governor Perdue to veto the bill because a last-minute amendment was added stating that information provided by the Rate Bureau to the commission will no longer be public record.

Call for Transparency

A group of media representatives and open records advocates pushed for a veto of the new law. The group includes the North Carolina Press Association, the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters, and News & Observer publisher Orage Quarles III.

Open records laws allowed the News & Observer to obtain the information for its investigation, which put a spotlight on the problem of employers not carrying required workers’ compensation insurance. If this information were to be kept private, not only would it prevent public scrutiny, but it would also prevent workers from finding out if their employers had the required insurance.

Representatives who supported the amendment said that it will protect private information, such as social security numbers. However, personal information such as this has long been redacted from public records.

North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Lawyers

If you have been hurt on the job or have been denied workers’ compensation benefits, possibly because your employer did not carry the required insurance, the North Carolina workers’ compensation lawyers at the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin may be able to help you. Call 1-866-900-7078 for a free evaluation of your case 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. By Austin Baird The News and Observer

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Buyer beware: Consumer Reports has released its annual list of worst cars, and one of the country’s most popular pick-up trucks is at the top of the list due to poor car test ratings. The Consumer Reports website is a common resource for new car and truck buyers, with a great deal of information on safety such as car accident statistics, crash avoidance systems and “rollover 101.” In place with long stretches of highway on which drivers speed fairly often, such as Texas, catastrophic truck accidents can cause roll-over wrecks and head-on collisions.

According to an article in the New York Daily News, the list is based on testing scores from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Consumer Reports, the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration and consumer analyst JD Power. Due to low ratings on car roll-over accidents, side impact collisions and seatbelt safety concerns, there are several defective cars on the market.

Fort Worth, Texas personal injury attorney David Glenn encourages new car and truck buyers to study as many safety and crash ratings as possible before making their purchase. By being informed, they will not end up with a vehicle that has safety problems such as a dangerous risk of roll-over, defective airbags, faulty brakes or unreliable seatbelts.

Due to overall poor crash test results, the Dodge Ram 1500 pick-up truck was been named as 2012’s most dangerous car in the United States, despite being a popular, high-selling vehicle. With so many trucks in Texas, catastrophic accident injuries here could be lowered if truck buyers consult Consumer Reports ratings first. Traumatic brain injury, brain and head injury, spinal cord injury are some of the most devastating Texas accident injuries, and while many are due to drunk driving, sometimes it is just a case of a dangerous car on the road.

Other cars that on the list of most dangerous cars on the road were the Chevrolet Colorado Super Cab, the Mazda CX-7, the Mazda CX-9, the Nissan Pathfinder, the Jeep Wrangler and the Suzuki SX4. No European automakers are among the worst-scoring seven models, which contained three US-made cars and four Japanese-made models.

Glenn Law Firm
210 W. Wall Street
Grapevine, Texas 76051

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What is the Collateral Source Rule?

The collateral source rule is a common law rule that has been applied to personal injury cases to prevent a defendant, also known as a tortfeasor, from introducing evidence to a jury of collateral source payments (such as health insurance) that could reduce the defendant’s liability to an injured party. Its purpose was to hold the defendant liable for the entirety of his or her negligent behavior, rather than benefiting from a collateral source.
Does the Collateral Source Rule Still Exist in Missouri & Kansas?

Within the past few years, the collateral source rule has become a thing of the past, which has worked to reduce a plaintiff’s potential recovery if the plaintiff had the benefit of health insurance. The collateral source has been referred to as a windfall for the plaintiff. Unfortunately, the move away from the collateral source rule seems to have become a windfall for the defendant. In reality, the ones that are really benefitting are the big insurance companies.

The collateral source rule still exists but in a much more limited capacity. Now it only prevents defendants from introducing the source of the collateral payment. For example, a defendant can introduce evidence that out of $15,000 in medical expenses, only $5,000 was paid and the other $10,000 was adjusted or written off. The defendant, however, cannot introduce evidence of whether the plaintiff’s medical expenses were paid by private health insurance, Medicaid, or Medicaid.

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