Symptoms of Traumatic Brain Injuries Suffered In New Hampshire Car Accidents

New Hampshire Teens and Nighttime Driving

When You Are The One Negotiating a New Hampshire Car Accident Claim

What Will Help Your Vermont Car Accident Case?

Motor Vehicle Accident Victim Concerns

If you or someone you care about has been injured in a motor vehicle accident, you probably have serious concerns that need to be addressed right away. How should you deal with your insurance company? What do you say to the insurance company that may or may not be harmful to the claim? Should you make a statement to investigating police, if so what should you say? Should you seek medical treatment for your injuries right away or are you afraid you will incur large medical bills that you cannot pay?  Who will pay the medical costs for the treatment you already received? How can you make up missed time at work and be compensated for your lost wages? How and when should you get your motor vehicle repaired or replaced?  Should you hire a lawyer? How do you get the best settlement for your claim?

This website can help. It is designed to provide answers to all these questions and more. Find answers to questions by going to our Frequently Asked Questions section or find more in depth information in our Library articles. Also our Automobile Accident  practice area is a good source of information. Click on any of these links and find your way to valuable information on what to do if you are seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident.

Finally, you are welcome to contact or call our firm with any questions you may have. Call us toll free at 1 (866) 632-8980  or fill out the Free Consultation contact form on the upper right hand portion of this page and someone will get back to you promptly. Please remember we are here to serve you.

New Client Testimonial

Today, we added another Client Testimonial to our site. Our client is Cheryl H. Cheryl was seriously injured in a car accident. She went to a  local law firm near where she lived. The lawyers there tried to convince her to accept a settlement that would barely cover her medical bills. Dissatisfied with that firm,  Cheryl then came to us. We advised her that she had a good claim and that we would represent her interests against the insurance company. Our skilled team put Cheryl’s claim together and then began negotiations with the insurance company. The insurance company balked at paying a fair settlement so we filed a lawsuit. We took the case through the litigation process and got ready for trial. (To learn more about the litigation process contact us for a free copy of our Personal Injury Victim's Handbook for Vermont and New Hampshire.)Finally, on the eve of trial the insurance company made what we thought was a fair settlement and Cheryl accepted it.

All to often we go through this process. After 30 years of representing seriously injured personal injury victims we know that sometimes insurance companies will not pay what we consider to be fair settlements until their backs are against the wall. Our background, experience and track record trying personal injury cases to juries gives us the leverage to make the insurance companies pay what we consider to be fair settlements, not what they want to pay. Sometimes we have to take them down to the wire, but that's ok with us as long as our client get's a fair settlement. To see Cheryl’s Testimonial, click here: Testimonial

Massive Pile-Up in New Hampshire, 100 injured.

On January 11, 2009 vehicles piled-up on Interstate 93 in Derry, New Hampshire.  Roughly 100 people sustained injuries, and 19 were transported to local hospital with more serious injuries. 

Apparently, a car had stopped on the interstate, and in an attempt to avoid it, a school bus filled with Boy Scouts applied its breaks.  When this happened, cars began sliding to avoid the bus at 50 mile per hour.  In total, 46 cars, three buses, and two tractor-trailers were involved in the pile-up. 

Seventeen ambulances and dozens of EMTs searched car by car in an attempt to identify the injured.  Luckily, no one sustained life-threatening injuries, however many people did sustain serious personal injury, such as broken legs and ankles.  On man had to be pulled out from underneath a tractor-trailer. The story was reported by WMTW and the Boston Herald. 

This accident serves as a reminder that road conditions can be dangerous in New Hampshire during the winter driving season.  Winter drivers, remember to give yourself more time to get to your destination and drive with extra caution to avoid an accident.   If you have been injured in a car accident, see Auto Accident Checklist, for detailed information on how to protect your rights. 

What To Do If You've Been Involved In An Accident

Letting your car insurance lapse in these tough economic times?

Driving without insurance is illegal in 48 states and the District of Columbia. The only states that don't require insurance are New Hampshire and Wisconsin. Therefore, even in good economic times, many people in New Hampshire drive without car insurance.  However, it appears that even more drivers are allowing their car insurance to lapse because of these rough economic times.  This is interesting in light of the fact that unlicensed and uninsured drivers are disproportionately involved in fatal accidents.

Apparently, several hundred thousand drivers throughout the country dropped their insurance in the past year and have chosen to enter the category of an uninsured motorist.  This decision could be attributed to the increased jobless rate.  However, this puts both yourself and others on the road at risk.  If you are driving without insurance and cause an accident, you could lose whatever assets you own in a court judgment.

If you are hit in a car accident by someone without insurance, you may be unable to recover damages that you suffer.  This is because many uninsured drivers do not have assets.  If you have motor vehicle insurance, there are some steps you can take to make sure you are protected if you are involved in a motor vehicle accident.  You can add uninsured motorist coverage.  This is extra coverage that will protect you if you are hit by an uninsured driver.  Also, by setting your insurance coverage proportionate to your assets, this can help you determine the limit of your uninsured driver coverage.  See our blog on New Hampshire Personal Injury Law.

About 20 states require drivers to buy coverage for uninsured or underinsured motorists. The coverage compensates policy owners and their families for injuries, including if they are injured as pedestrians, caused by hit-and-run drivers and drivers without insurance. However, this extra coverage does come at a price.  It usually adds between 7% and 9% to an average auto premium, according to State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. and Allstate Corp.

Soft Tissue Injuries in New Hampshire Car Accidents

Each year there are thousands of  car accidents in New Hampshire. Statistically there are more car accidents in New Hampshire than many other states due to dangerous seasonal driving conditions, especially winter; antiquated secondary roads and rural highways. Some of these accidents result in death but the vast majority result in soft tissue injury.

A soft tissue injury is generally  defined as an injury where no bones (hard tissue) are broken. In New Hampshire soft tissue injuries frequently result from car accidents in the winter when one car skids on ice and hits another car at relatively low speeds. The soft tissue injury victim often doesn’t realize that they have been significantly injured until some time after the accident occurs. The victim often doesn’t seek medical attention until days or sometimes weeks later. New Hampshire folks are known for being pretty tough and resilient so we often have clients in our office who come in and say they were just waiting for the pain, stiffness and other symptoms to go away, and it was only when they persisted that they finally sought medical attention.  In this typical situation the insurance company for the negligent driver often uses the delay in treatment as an excuse to deny or minimize the value of the claim.

We here at Van Dorn &  Curtiss know that simply because an accident victim waited some time  before getting treatment, it doesn’t necessarily mean the soft tissue injury victim didn’t suffer serious injuries. Many doctors will tell you that some soft tissue injuries including, sprains and torn ligaments can be more problematic and difficult to heal than some bone fractures.

For a lengthier discussion on soft tissue injuries and car accidents see the article in our website library at: http://www.vandornandcurtiss.com/library/car-accidents-and-soft-tissue-injuries.cfm