Philadelphia Car Accident Lawyer Blog

According to a story on a Pittsburgh news station, a loophole was spotlighted noting that although every year more than 50,000 Pennsylvanians get hit by drunk drivers, drunk drivers are allowed to continue to drive after getting arrested. Critics call this a loophole law, a loophole that most other states have closed. The laws of 41 other states require a person arrested for drunk driving to lose his or her driver’s license on the spot, but unfortunately, this is not the case in Pennsylvania. Here you can legally go out, get drunk, get in a crash, hurt or kill someone and be back behind the wheel to drive again legally. For more information on this law, I urge you to contact thepittsburghchannel.com, Channel 4 ABC WTAE and view the most informative and well produced segment.

As an experienced Philadelphia car accident lawyer, I have been concerned about this loophole for many years and have written articles about this state of affairs as I am a hardcore advocate against drunk driving. Unlike Pennsylvania, most states seize a person’s driver’s license when one is arrested for drunk driving. The rate of recidivism is extraordinarily high with people arrested for drunk driving, with such drivers going out repeating the offense and often times catastrophically injuring or killing someone. The Pennsylvania law does not allow the seizure of a driver’s license until there is a conviction. Opponents to the law state that by taking a license prior to conviction, you will be depriving someone of due process because you are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Continue reading " If You Are Arrested While Driving Drunk In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania You May Be Back On The Road The Same Day After Getting Arrested - Why? Asks This Experienced Philadelphia Car Accident Lawyer " »

The experienced Philadelphia hit and run car accident lawyers of Reiff & Bily send their hearts and prayers out to three children and their families after they were struck by a vehicle at 12:10 p.m. at Marshall Road at its intersection with Littlecroft in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, November 24, 2009. According to the police, all three children were 7th graders at Beverly Hills Middle School. At least two of the children who were struck impacted the windshield of the car. Two of the children (Jemel Brunswick and Tyler Lowery) are in stable condition and the third is in critical condition with significant catastrophic injuries at Children’s Hospital stated Mr. Beyene, the child’s father. The police state that the 42-year old female driver of the striking vehicle attempted to leave the scene of the accident but struck several parked cars preventing her getaway. She was thereafter apprehended by the police and transported to Delaware County Memorial Hospital to be evaluated. The children were out of school due to early dismissal.

Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood stated that the hit and run driver will face charges pending toxicology reports. Certainly her actions were highly irresponsible and rise to criminal and felonious charges as she tried to leave the scene of this horrific accident. According to Chitwood, “She’s locked up right now”.

Unfortunately, as I have noted in my blogs for the past several years, there is an epidemic of hit and runs in the Philadelphia metropolitan area resulting in catastrophic injuries and fatalities to innocent pedestrians. In this case, three innocent children were impacted by a driver so irresponsible that she attempted to leave the scene. I will be curious to know whether the pending toxicology investigation reveals that she was intoxicated or under the influence of drugs.

As noted, our law has a loophole that rewards hit and run drivers if they were under the influence and for more information, see my previous articles on this topic. The families of these children would be well advised to seek the services of an experienced hit and run car accident lawyer to fully investigate this case. The hit and run lawyers of Reiff & Bily are strong advocates against this hit and run legal loophole and seek to prosecute offenders of hit and run vehicle claims to the utmost of our abilities while seeking compensation for the unfortunate victims. Please contact us at 1-800-421-9595 for a free no obligation consultation or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

A Connecticut jury returned a $15 million dollar verdict in a class action suit brought by auto body shops against an affiliate of The Hartford Insurance Co., which was accused of unfair trade practices. The Stamford Superior Court jury found in favor of the Auto Body Association of Connecticut which has been battling the Hartford Fire Insurance Company for 6 years over appraisals and labor costs for vehicle repairs according to a story published in the Associated Press. The owner’s group stated that the insurer’s labor rates were artificially low and the company discouraged the use of independent appraisers in favor of its own appraisers in order to control all aspects of car repairs. Not so surprisingly, The Hartford states it will appeal the verdict. I am sure that many of our readers have been told by their insurance company that they must go to an insurance company “approved shop” or direct repair shop or have non-original parts used on their auto repairs.

As an experienced Philadelphia car accident attorney who is constantly battling with insurance companies on these and many other issues, I am confident that the jury spoke loud and clear. Many insurance companies disregard their customers’ best interests and try to use their “muscle” against the little guy. I tell my clients that I am a greedy lawyer, a lawyer greedy for justice. In this case, justice prevailed.

The Connecticut Attorney General joins with this unfair insurance practices lawyer in calling for more stringent laws regulating how insurance companies deal with car repairs and claims in general.

As an experienced personal injury and car accident lawyer, I am dismayed that a court in Miami by a three judge panel ruled that a person cannot sue his or her insurance company for failing to provide an explanation of benefits on a personal injury protection claim. It would seem to this experienced car accident lawyer that the insurance company owes their insured a duty and obligation to explain the benefits once they have taken payment for the policy. Local counsel for the insurance company claimed that this court’s decision would likely decrease frivolous lawsuits against insurance companies. He claimed that such lawsuits were legal tactics by plaintiff’s insurance that turned court claims for personal injuries into law suits for bad faith. Frankly, I believe that many of the policies are so ambiguous and written in such an unclear fashion to benefit the insurance carriers that this decision is poor and reveals the “muscle” that the insurance companies try to use against the interests of their insureds.

The Florida court stated that insured people cannot sue their insurance company for not providing an explanation for benefits on a medical claim and claimed that this will reduce frivolous lawsuits related to PIP auto insurance claims. It seems to this experienced car accident attorney that this decision is a step in the wrong direction in that you should always have the right to question the insurance carrier regarding the terms of the policy it has issued once they collect a premium and the courts are the only proper venue to seek proper redress once they have failed to adhere to the terms of their contract with their insured or if an ambiguity arises. The unfair insurance practice lawyers of Reiff & Bily are committed to fighting back against insurance carriers who put profitability over fair dealing.

As an experienced 15-passenger van rollover attorney and outspoken critic of the continued use of these vehicles, I find myself reporting on yet another disaster of a 15-passenger van crash. The 15-passenger Ford van was carrying 16 people from New Life Worship Center in Federal Heights and crashed in eastern Oregon this morning killing at least two people and catastrophically injuring several others. Those in the van were aged 18 to 22 years old and studying to be ministers at the Federal Heights church. The van was noted to be a 2002 Ford van and many of the passengers were ejected in the multiple rollovers. These vehicles have an extremely high roll over rate of 85% in a single vehicle crash with 10 to 15 occupants vs. 28% for vans carrying fewer than 5 people. 15-passenger vans are commonly used by church groups and student groups and have a high center of gravity when loaded with passengers. The operation of these vans requires specific knowledge and experience and an accident avoidance maneuver or a sudden driver action often results in a catastrophic loss of control.

Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the individuals injured and killed as a result of this tragic accident. I recommend that they seek the services of an experienced 15-passenger van rollover attorney to fully investigate this claim and recover proper damages that may be due to them as a result of a defective auto product design.

For many years I have been writing articles about the dangers of texting or using a cell phone while operating a motor vehicle. As an experienced Philadelphia car accident attorney, I have seen all too many cases involving death or catastrophic injury due to the fact that someone was not paying full attention to the road because they were absorbed in a phone conversation or texting.

I recently had a friend visit from Israel and shared with him my joyful recognition of the new Philadelphia law banning the use of cell phones while operating a motor vehicle and he was surprised that it took so long as this law has already been in effect in Israel and other countries for some time now.

A few times a week I speak to clients of mine who have sustained catastrophic injuries, including the loss of limbs or neurological function, due to the fact that they were an occupant in a vehicle where the driver was using a cell phone or were in the unfortunate “other car” involved in a car accident caused by inattention to the road by a vehicle traveling in the other direction.

Continue reading " Texting While Driving or Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol - Which Is Worse? " »

I woke up yesterday morning and turned on my television set only to see the results of a devastatingly tragic car accident that took the life of an innocent victim, 33-year old Joseph Sherlock of Upper Darby, PA. According to a Pennsylvania State Police news report, a police officer saw a red Ford Explorer irresponsibly speeding through a school zone on Route 352 at approximately 7:40 a.m. Other state troopers and officers saw the Explorer speeding on Route 352 but lost sight of it as it approached Dutton Mill Road. At the intersection of Knowltown Road, the speeding Explorer ran a red light and slammed into a black Honda in the intersection. When I saw the story on television, it looked like the front end of the Honda was severed on impact and the car was covered by a tarp. Our hearts, prayers and thoughts go out to the driver of the Honda, Joseph Sherlock, who was trapped inside and pronounced dead on the scene. The 18-year old driver of the Explorer, Jonathan Trueheart of Ambler, PA, was taken into custody and transported to Crozer Chester Medical Center.

Unfortunately this case represents a tragic incident of an irresponsible teenager speeding through a school zone without regard for the safety of innocent children or commuters during the busy rush hour. This experienced car accident attorney recommends that driver of the Explorer, Jonathan Trueheart, be charged with severe criminal penalties including but not limited to homicide. The family of Joseph Sherlock would be well advised to seek the services of an experienced car accident lawyer to fully investigate this claim and protect their legal rights.

Finally and thankfully Philadelphia police will begin enforcing an ordinance banning the use of hand held phone for texting or telephoning while driving beginning on Sunday, November 1, 2009. First the police will issue warnings through November and then on December 1 police will enforce code violations that will incur a $75 fine. If you have a Bluetooth or answer a cellphone through a built in car system you are okay. “As long as you are not holding up a phone to your ear, you are okay,” stated Lt. Frank Vanore of the Philadelphia Police Department.

Our hats go off to the City of Philadelphia for tackling the issue of driving when using cell phones. I have written many articles noting the dangers of phoning and texting while driving or operating any vehicle. A momentary loss of attention often results in fatalities and catastrophic injuries from an otherwise avoidable car accident.

As an experienced Philadelphia car accident attorney, I am all too well aware of the serious and catastrophic injuries and fatalities sustained by victims of drivers not paying full attention to the road. The new ordinance is a step in the right direction and hopefully many of the other counties, cities, and states across our great country will follow in the footsteps of Philadelphia.

I was in Florida yesterday and rented a car with a business associate of mine and took for granted that the same safety features present on a privately owned Chevrolet Impala motor vehicle would be standard on the rental vehicle. I surprisingly discovered that this was not so.

According to investigation by the Kansas City Star, Enterprise Rent-A-Car chose to leave side airbags from thousands of Chevrolet Impala cars in order to save millions of dollars. According to the article authored by Rick Montgomery and Ann Margolis of the Kansas City Star, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the nation’s largest private buyer of new cars and several used ones choose to “delete” a standard safety feature from thousands of Chevrolet Impala fleet vehicles. Enterprise rented out thousands of 2006-2008 model vehicles without side curtain airbags which have been shown to dramatically reduce deaths and catastrophic injuries.

Continue reading " The Car You Rent May Not Necessarily Be As Safe As an Identical Car That You Own - Be Careful Warns Experienced Automobile and Airbag Defect Lawyer " »

As an experienced insurance claims lawyer who has been litigating bad faith and unfair insurance claims practice since 1979 in conjunction with our catastrophic injury law practice, I have seen that insurance companies have increasingly taken a deny, delay, defend posture with even the most valid and clearest of insurance claims. Many times this arises as a potentially nightmarish situation for the insured as they have paid their premiums and been profitably exploited by the insurance company. Unfortunately most individuals lack the experience or know-how to fight the large insurance company who believes that the insured will back down or be intimidated and settle for cents on the true dollar value of their claim.

In our unfair insurance claims practice we have noticed an increased amount of unfair practices, bad faith, and outright fraud on behalf of the insurance companies. We have been filing bad faith claims against these insurance companies claiming they are breaching their contract with their insured and it is only when these cases start to heat up that the representatives of the company at a corporate level start to pay attention.

All insurance companies owe their insured a fiduciary obligation to act in good faith.

In many cases, insurance companies have hidden relationships with third party administrators or reinsurers while engaged in a back room “fight” with the separate entities pointing the finger at each other which unfortunately comes at the expense of the insured. In many of these cases, we have been able to determine that false information was supplied to one of the hidden third parties in applications or documents whereas the insured was kept in the dark and ultimately successful in a courtroom proceeding. It is important that if you are wrongfully denied a claim by your insurance carrier or you are not offered fair value for your claim, that you fight back and never, never give up.

The unfair insurance claims practices lawyers and bad faith insurance lawyers of Reiff & Bily are committed to protecting consumers wrongfully injured by the deny, delay, defend tactics of insurance companies.