The time immediately following an accident can be confusing and overwhelming for injury victims. While your main priority should be your health and well-being, you might struggle to truly focus on your recovery while you are also worried about your finances.

Medical bills, car repair costs, and lost wages from missing work can all add up faster than most people realize. Your best bet may be to pursue compensation via a personal injury claim. Unfortunately, you may face an uphill battle to get the compensation you deserve. Insurance companies are businesses, which mean they typically prioritize their bottom lines.

After a car accident, you can expect that an insurance adjuster will contact you with questions about the crash. Sometimes, the adjuster will call you within 24 to 48 hours following the accident.

This conversation can be difficult to handle—especially if you are injured or dealing with issues like taking time off work or securing alternate transportation while your car is being repaired. Emotions and anxiety can also run high this soon after a traumatic event. If you don’t know what questions an insurance adjuster will ask, it can be even more difficult to come up with the right answers under pressure.

The latest statistics published by the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) show that at least 906 serious injuries occurred in motor vehicle crashes in West Virginia in 2019. There were at least 260 fatalities that same year. Those statistics mark a decline in both injury and deadly crashes over previous years. The state aims to significantly reduce occurrences even more by 2030.  

When many people are asked what types of injuries commonly result from motor vehicle accidents, they often point to recoverable ones, such as bruises, cuts or scrapes, concussions, whiplash, and broken bones. While the occurrence of these is certainly inconvenient, they’re unlikely to leave behind lasting reminders of what happened. Individuals who suffer more lasting, permanent injuries that result from car accidents may never have a chance to return to life as it was before their car crash.  

Whether you’ve personally been in a car accident before or just know someone who has, you’re likely aware that the number of individuals who can say that they walked away from a motor vehicle accident unscathed is limited.

As a driver, you never expect the motorist in front of you to suddenly slam on the brakes while driving on the highway. But the simple fact is that you never know what the driver in front of you is going to do. Part of good defensive driving is making sure that you put adequate distance between yourself and the vehicle in front of you. This leaves sufficient room for you to react if an emergency arises.

So, what’s a safe driving distance on the highway? Read on to learn more about how to measure a safe distance between yourself and the car in front of you. If you have further questions about legal options following a car accident in West Virginia, reach out to the personal injury law firm of DiPiero Simmons McGinley & Bastress, PLLC.

Most West Virginia motorists know that they can hold the motorist who struck them liable for their injuries if they get hurt in a motor vehicle accident. Sometimes no one gets hurt in the crash, yet their car is seriously damaged. For example, such an incident may occur in a parking accident.

In the United States, motor vehicle collisions are the second leading cause of death for teens 13-19 years of age. Over 2,000 teenagers lose their lives in car accidents every year, and over 250,000 are treated in emergency rooms for crash injuries.

We can change these numbers. At DiPiero Simmons McGinley & Bastress, PLLC, our experience as car accident lawyers has taught us that most accidents are preventable. By practicing safe, attentive, and defensive driving—and teaching the next generation of drivers to do the same—we can work together to make our roads safer for all of us. 

Each year in the United States, roughly 300 people lose their lives in stopped vehicle accidents, according to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS). Every driver must do their part to ensure those who have already been in a car accident are not further injured or killed by passing traffic.

Between 2011-2016, more than 3,300 people died when driving in construction zones. Most of these crashes occur on roads with speed limits that are higher than 50. It’s common for drivers to maintain a high speed while driving in a construction zone, which can be dangerous and increase the risk of an accident. If you want to lessen your risk of being involved in a construction zone accident, the following offers helpful safety tips and guidelines that should bolster your safety while on the road.

Car accidents are a leading cause of death for children 13 and under. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) statistics show that one out of every three children killed in a vehicle crash was not properly secured in a car seat. Deaths as preventable as these should not be allowed to occur. It takes the work of adults to make sure that children are kept safe in vehicles on the road.