Blog

Why you should use your insurance in a car accident?

I have heard it a thousand times, people believe that it is not good to use their own insurance in a car accident injury case. They want to go through the other party’s insurance to repair their car. This is not a good idea, especially if you are injured in the car accident.

You have car insurance for this very reason, yet many people want to not get their insurance involved because they believe that their insurance premiums will go up to a point where they cannot afford.

New flash: your insurance company will get wind of your car accident one way or another. Insurance companies like to talk and chances are the defendant’s insurance will report that you were in a car accident. Your insurance will get wind of it one way or another.

If your insurance company wants to raise your rates because you were injured in a car accident caused by someone else, that is a problem with the company and not you. You should find another company if this is the case. How dare you use your insurance for something that you pay a premium to them every month for! Trust me, there are many insurance companies out there that want your premium every month and they will charge you less than what your insurance company charges.

Here are the three reasons you want to use your insurance for a car accident injury case:

  1. Your insurance company has an obligation to treat you fair: This means that they cannot play games with evaluating you and your injuries. The other insurance company has no obligation to you and will try to convince you to drop your claim against them or diminish it as much as possible.
  2. The other insurance company will get an unfair look at your car damage and not give you the same courtesy: Often times in a car accident, the car that rear ends another car often has much more damage then the car that they hit. This is because rear car bumpers are generally much sturdier than the front bumper, which also house the hood and lights. If they have your damages and your car didn’t suffer much, they may try to claim a low impact case without revealing their insured’s major damages, which can pigeon hole your case and make you settle for much less than you deserve.
  3. You pay a lot of money in premiums to cover your car repair and medical damages with PIP premiums, why not use it? You should go through your own insurance company to pay for your medical bills because the other insurance company will not pay for your medical bills until you settle your case with them. This means that your hospital bill will go to collections and you may not be able to use your medical insurance to cover physical therapy, chiropractor, and massage therapy that you need. However, PIP covers all of these expenses immediately so that your bills do not go to collections and you can get the treatment you need now.
  4. PIP puts money in your pocket: If you use your PIP to pay for your medical bills and hire a Seattle personal injury lawyer to represent you in your car accident injury case, you will get more money in your pocket. This is because your car accident injury lawyer will be able to lower the amount you owe back in medical bills to insurance companies if you use your own PIP, which you wouldn’t get if you didn’t have a lawyer. The other insurance company would just pay back the other insurance company directly for the bills.

If you have been injured in a car accident, you can give Chern Law Firm a call today for a free consultation. Cherin Law Firm charges on a contingency fee, which means that we do not get paid unless you recover money. We do not charge you out of your own pocket. We are paid out of the settlement that the insurance company pays.

Andrew CherinWhy you should use your insurance in a car accident?
Read more

When to use your insurance and when to use the defendant’s?

There seems to be a lot of misguided information and confusion around the topic of whose insurance you should use following a car accident injury case to pay for your medical bills. Mistakenly, many people don’t want their insurance rates to go up so they try to avoid using their car insurance policy as much as possible since the other person was at fault. This is bad and here is why.

The defendant’s insurance will not pay for your medical bills, pain and suffering and lost wages, until you settle with them.

This means that the defendant’s insurance company will not pay for your medical bills until you come to a settlement with them, which should only be when you are fully healed and have completed all your medical treatment. There is one exception, this doesn’t apply to people who are injured while using a bike or as a pedestrian, which are entitled to the defendant’s PIP (personal injury protection) policy, which acts like medical insurance and pays for your medical bills. If you are injured in a car accident, you can only use your own PIP if you are the driver. If you were the passenger, you get to use the driver’s PIP as well as your own, if you have a separate policy.

In the mean time, who is paying for your medical bills?

Since the defendant’s insurance company will not pay for your medical bills suffered in the car accident, who is going to pay for your medical bills and stop them from going to collections? If you have a PIP plan with your car insurance, you should absolutely use it.

PIP pays for any and all medical treatment such as hospital bills, ambulance rides, emergency room bills, chiropractor visits, physical therapy, massage therapy, doctors visits, and more. Most people have $10,000 in PIP benefits but some have $35,000 or more. Check out your insurance policy or call your insurance adjuster to find out how much you have.

If you run out of PIP, you can use your medical insurance to continue paying for medical treatment so long as the treatment is covered according to your policy and the treatment provider is ok with using it.

Additionally, some medical facilities will allow you to pay them back out of the settlement and continue to get treatment after your PIP has been exhausted. However, most medical facilities will require you to have a personal injury lawyer represent you and have them sign an agreement that says they are entitled to be repaid out of the settlement for their treatment of you.

What claim numbers do you give to your medical providers?

It is important that you give your PIP claim number to all of your medical providers especially hospitals and ambulances who will send you to collections very quickly if they are not paid within a couple months of service. You should not give the defendant’s insurance claim numbers to your medical providers, as they cannot bill them and the claim will be rejected, which may make the medical facility send you to collections.

Give your PIP claim number to all of your medical providers at the outset of your appointments so that all billing goes through your PIP.

They were responsible, shouldn’t they pay?

Yes, and they will. The defendant’s insurance company will repay all medical bills that have been paid by your PIP policy, medical insurance, and those you paid out of pocket or are waiting to pay back on a lien. This will come out of the settlement in addition to compensating you for your lost wages and pain and suffering.

Using PIP puts more money in your pocket

All medical bills are subject to being paid back by the defendant’s insurance company and to whoever paid them. However, if you hire a car accident injury lawyer to represent you for your injuries, your lawyer will be able to reduce the amount of PIP benefits that you have to pay back by at least 1/3, putting that money in your pocket, instead of your insurance company’s pocket. This is because you hired a lawyer to represent you and attorney’s fee are usually 1/3 of the settlement. State courts have found it unfair for the PIP insurance company to benefit from your hiring of a lawyer, who obtains money for their repayment out of the settlement.

Scared of racking up too many bills?

If you are scared of racking up too many bills because you believe you may not be able to get them paid for out of a car accident settlement, you should contact a car accident injury lawyer today. The Cherin Law Firm offers free consultations and will answer all your questions about your case, case value, PIP benefits, etc. Additionally, the Cherin Law Firm is paid out of the settlement and charges 1/3 of the settlement, which never comes out of the client’s pocket. Therefore, anyone can afford our services but you cannot afford not to have a lawyer representing you against the insurance company who are professional negotiators.

Andrew CherinWhen to use your insurance and when to use the defendant’s?
Read more

Defensive Driving Tip: Drive Like People Have No Clue

Driving around the streets and highways of Seattle you come to find that most people do not know how to drive and traffic sucks. If you are driving on I-5 near Seattle, you could be going 60 mph only to come to a complete stop nearly two minutes later. This is how congested this city has become and has been with poor road designs. What makes matters worse, is when people either don’t see you and try to merge into your lane or are driving like a maniac all over the place.

Seattle Car Accidents Are Avoidable?

Some car accidents are unavoidable as just bad luck or bad timing comes into play preventing someone from seeing another person in the road. However, most car accidents are avoidable if you use common sense, are constantly aware of your surroundings, and you drive defensively.

What does it mean to drive defensively to avoid car accidents?

Defensive driving schools around the country teach you to anticipate other car’s actions. This means that when you are driving along the road and someone is driving next to you or just in front of you, always imagine them trying to merge into your lane. If you are approaching an exit ramp on I-5 in Seattle and there is a car just in front of you, anticipate them cutting in front of you at the last second to get into your lane.

When you anticipate that cars are going to try to get into your lane, you can prepare to break and leave space for them to avoid a car accident from happening. Giving just a little extra space and slowing down just slightly can be the difference between you rear ending them and not.

Avoid Driving Next to Other Cars Prevents Car Accidents

When you are driving along the freeway or on residential streets, it is important to not drive right next to another car. Driving right next to other cars puts you in their blind spots where they may assume there is no car next to them as they try to merge into your lane.

You should always try to leave some space between you and the car driving next to you. Either accelerate to get in front of them or slow down to let them get further in front of you. With all the distractions that people are dealing with these days while driving, you should anticipate that they are distracted and don’t see you.

Cars Driving Fast or Swerving Lanes – Stay Calm

You should constantly be scanning your rearview mirror for potential crazy and aggressive drivers. Too many people are driving on the road with road rage these days and trying to get to places extra fast.

If you see someone coming up behind you that is weaving in and out of lanes stay in your lane and do not try to merge lanes until they have passed you. Crazy drivers are only out for themselves and believe that the road is theirs to concur. They are trying to pass you and everyone else by getting around you. They will try to accelerate around you with little or no signal or warning. Because of this, it is better to stay in your lane until they have passed so they don’t cause a rear end car accident with you and push you into other cars.

If you have been injured in a Seattle car accident, please call the personal injury lawyers at Cherin Law Firm for a free consultation. Our Seattle car accident injury lawyers are paid out of the settlement so everyone can afford to hire a Seattle personal injury lawyer but you cannot afford not to hire one.

Andrew CherinDefensive Driving Tip: Drive Like People Have No Clue
Read more

Whose Insurance Covers Seattle Uber and Lyft Car Accident Injuries

Uber and Lyft are everywhere these days and they provide a great service for those looking for a ride to an area that charges a lot for parking or a ride home from the bar. However, if you are ever in a car accident with an Uber or Lyft driver you may be facing an uphill battle while you try to find out whose coverage will cover your injuries suffered in the car accident. This is because there are basically three levels of insurance that could be at fault.

Whose Insurance Will Cover Seattle Uber Car Accident Injury Case?

Uber and Lyft hire drivers to drive for them who are not quite employees but actually contract for hire employees. Therefore, when the Uber or Lyft driver does not have a passenger and is not actively searching for a rider with the Uber or Lyft app, they are not really working on Uber or Lyft time. Therefore, Uber and Lyft do not cover the insurance for their driver during this time if they get into a car accident, which can have implications on the driver of Uber and Lyft and others.

Seattle Uber or Lyft Driver Not Using App Car Accident

When an Uber or Lyft driver is not considered a driver, they must maintain their own car insurance. If your are injured in a Seattle car accident with an Uber or Lyft driver at this point, the Uber or Lyft driver’s own insurance will cover your car accident injuries. If they do not have their own insurance, you must use your UIM (uninsured motorist insurance) to cover your injuries.

Seattle Uber or Lyft Driver Looking for a Passenger Car Accident

When an Uber or Lyft driver is actively using the app to find a passenger to make money, Uber and Lyft must have a minimum liability insurance coverage for their driver of  $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident, as well as $30,000 for property damage, and Underinsured Motorist (UIM) benefits and Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage to the extent required by existing law (currently UIM minimum to match the liability coverage, and PIP minimum of $10,000).

PIP coverage pays for medical bills while you wait for your settlement with the at fault party. Washington State Law appears to make PIP mandatory with a minimum required of $10,000. Unfortunately, the only thing required by the law is for the insurance company to offer you $10,000 in PIP coverage not that you have or maintain $10,000 in PIP coverage, which is completely strange. Uber and Lyft have chosen not to include PIP coverage with their insurance policies, in line with Washington State Law.

Uber or Lyft Driver with a Passenger Car Accident

Once the Seattle Uber or Lyft driver accepts a ride and is in route to pick up the passenger or they already have the passenger, the insurance coverage increases to single limit liability coverage of $1 million, UIM coverage of $1 million, and PIP coverage to the extent required by existing law.  This coverage remains in effect until the passenger exists the vehicle.

This means that if you are injured in a car accident caused by a Lyft or Uber driver, the insurance company for Uber or Lyft will cover your injuries up to $1 million in damages caused by their driver. This will cover your medical expenses, lost wages, lost future wages, and pain and suffering.

If you have been injured in a car accident by an Uber or Lyft driver contact a Seattle personal injury lawyer immediately. Our Seattle car accident injury lawyers at Cherin Law Firm will quickly investigate your case to determine which insurance company will cover your damages. Consultations are free and we are paid out of the settlement. Everyone can afford a Seattle personal injury lawyer but you can’t afford not to have one against Uber or Lyft’s insurance company.

Andrew CherinWhose Insurance Covers Seattle Uber and Lyft Car Accident Injuries
Read more

Seattle Tolls Coming to Mercer Street?!

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article about New York and cities around the world looking into tolling not just freeways, but individual roads in an effort to curb traffic jams. New York is known for its heavy traffic and hustle and bustle lifestyle. New York has seen heavy traffic times create longer traffic jams slowing travel time from 6mph to 4mph on average recently in certain areas. The study cites increased ride sharing drivers and decreased road space like bike lanes as one of the causes of increased traffic.

London has had tolls on some of their major roads to help ease congestion since 2003. The Wall Street Journal stated that congestion was eased by 30% the first couple years following implementation. However, congestion has risen again with the rise of Uber and Lyft drivers who constantly circle the heaviest traffic areas and are exempt from such charges.

The city of Seattle also has traffic congestion issues not just caused by car accidents on the road. Seattle has much more people living and working in the city than ever before because of increased technology jobs booming the city which adds to the traffic. Additionally, Seattle has tried to combat traffic and pollution by cutting down lanes by adding bike lanes, which has further added to traffic times.

The city of Seattle is spending $200 million on a study this year to determine if a toll on some of it’s busiest roads would help fund city roads and ease congestion. The study most likely is targeting the ever crowded Mercer Street in Seattle that is getting busier and busier as new building continue to emerge around Amazon and other tech leading companies.

Tolling roads will most likely lead to angry drivers and congestion in other parts of the city, as many people are not satisfied with current methods of alternative transportation such as buses, bikes, and trains. The trains do not go to many smaller suburbs of the city and do not reach far enough for commuters to realistically change their habits of driving into the city. Bus times often take far longer than driving your car into the city and do not give many people the freedom that they covet. However, tolling roads would add a source of revenue to the city to fund expansion of light rail and repair city roads that are constantly falling apart.

 

Andrew CherinSeattle Tolls Coming to Mercer Street?!
Read more

Seattle Passenger Car Accident Injury Case

If you have been injured in a car accident while riding as a passenger in Seattle, you need to find a Seattle passenger car accident injury lawyer. A Seattle personal injury lawyer will be able to help you maximize your recovery from the possible people that have caused your injury. Passengers have a lot of options if injured in a car accident as they often are allowed to recover from the driver of the car if the driver caused the car accident by any bit.

Seattle Passengers Injured in Car Accidents Have Many Options For Medical Payments

People who are injured as a passenger often are afforded the ability to use the driver’s personal injury protection car insurance coverage. This is a no fault option that is available to pay for your medical bills right away. Without PIP you would be forced to use your medical insurance to pay for medical bills now because the at fault part’s insurance will not cover your medical bills until you settle with them. PIP insurance can pay for your hospital bills, chiropractic appointments, physical therapy, massage, surgeries, and even for your lost wages. Most people only have $10,000 PIP policies but possibly more if they paid for extra coverage.

In addition to using the driver of your car’s PIP insurance, you may also be able to use your own PIP insurance through your auto insurance. As long as you have used up all of the other PIP, you can possibly use your own even though your car was not involved in the car accident. A Seattle personal injury lawyer can advocate on your behalf to get you these benefits.

Seattle Passengers Can Go After Their Own Driver and The Other Driver

If you are injured in a car accident as a passenger, you have many options of recovery. If your driver and the other driver involved in the car accident both shared fault for the car accident, the passenger can go after both insurance policies to recover their damages. This can be very helpful if one insurance company does not have very much liability insurance coverage, which $25,000 is the minimum limits in Seattle.

Seattle Passenger Car Accident Injury Victims Can Use Their Own UIM as well as Driver’s

If for some reason the other driver does not have insurance, you are entitled to use the driver of your car’s Uninsured Motorist Insurance (UIM). UIM insurance basically steps in as if they other person had insurance and the insurance carrier will use all defenses that person had.

In addition to being able to use the driver of the car’s UIM insurance, a Seattle car accident injury lawyer may be able to advocate for having your own UIM insurance coverage on your vehicles step in and cover you. Your lawyer will have to prove that there is no other means of recovery in order to use this.

What are Seattle Passengers Injured in Car Accidents Entitled to?

If you are injured in a Seattle car accident while riding as a passenger, you are entitled to your medical bills being fully paid for or reimbursed, your lost wages paid, your future lost wages paid if you can no longer work, and pain and suffering. Being injured in a Seattle car accident can leave you with outrageous medical bills, broken bones, and permanent injuries. It is important that you have a Seattle car accident injury lawyer representing you for your case so that you receive what you are entitled to and not what insurance companies want to pay you.

Contact a Seattle car accident injury lawyer today at Cherin Law Firm. We offer free consultations and are paid out of the settlement. Therefore, there is no money out of your pocket and we only get paid if we obtain a settlement for you. Anyone can afford a Seattle car accident injury lawyer but you cannot afford not to have one against the insurance companies.

Andrew CherinSeattle Passenger Car Accident Injury Case
Read more

Seattle Bike Accident Injury Car Accidents

If you are looking for a Seattle Bike Accident Injury Lawyer, there are a lot of variables that you should consider when looking for someone to represent you for your injuries suffered in a bike vs car accident. Bike versus car accident injury cases are some of the most severe cases that can leave the person on the bike extremely injured.

How Bike Riders Can Get Medical Bills Paid Following a Car Accident

If you are injured in a bicycle versus car accident, you probably have very expensive hospital bills and probably need a lot of follow up and physical therapy. Most people cannot afford to pay all of the out of pocket costs that come with major injuries like this and are frustrated by insurance companies who continually deny paying for things. Fortunately, if you hire a personal injury lawyer to represent you, your lawyer will be able to find coverage that you may not have been able to find without their help.

A good Seattle bike accident injury lawyer will be able to find you insurance coverage through the other driver’s PIP policy, your own PIP policy, your own medical insurance, or guarantee to the medical providers that they will get paid out of the settlement if they provide you with the treatment that you need now to get better. Without a personal injury lawyer, you may not be able to get your own auto insurance policy to cover your injuries while you were on a bike and you may be frustrated with your own medical insurance not covering things that they say the defendant’s insurance should cover.

The defendant’s insurance will eventually pay for everything, but they will only pay for everything in one lump sum and will not pay for medical treatment as you go, like a PIP policy. Generally, the insurance company will not pay for your medical bills if you are injured in a car accident. However, if you are injured while riding a bike, as a pedestrian, or while riding as a passenger in the defendant’s car, you are entitled to their PIP policy benefits in addition to what you are entitled to. The PIP policy is good because it pays for bills now rather than later but is usually capped at $10,000.

What is a Bike Rider Injured in a Car Accident Entitled To?

People injured in bike versus car accidents are entitled to get their medical bills paid for, they are entitled to compensation for lost wages, they are entitled to compensation for lost future wages if they are seriously hurt and no longer to work in their same capacity, and they are entitled to pain and suffering.

Lost future wages can be substantial if you required a back surgery, spinal fusion, broken bones, crushed vertebrae, any form of surgery, were paralyzed, suffered a brain injury, etc. Lost future wages are important to be figured into your settlement as this can be $100,000’s or even millions of dollars depending your injuries and your salary and earning potential.

How does a bike rider injured in a car accident maximize their case value?

If you are injured in a bike accident, it is vital that you do not settle your case until all of your injuries are fully healed or healed as best as they can. In Seattle, you have three years to settle your case or file a lawsuit against the person that hit you. If you do not file the lawsuit or settle the case from three years from the date of the bike on car accident, you will lose your ability to recover damages from the defendant forever. However, you do not want to settle your case early.

Many insurance companies will approach you soon after the car accident with what sounds like a lot of money and say take it now or it will be gone. Or you are not hurt that bad and this is the most you can stand to gain from this car accident. These statements could not be further from the truth. It is best to have a Seattle bike accident injury lawyer look at your case before signing anything to make sure your rights are preserved and you maximize your case value.

Contact the Cherin Law Firm today for a free consultation about your Seattle bike accident injury case today. We are paid out of the settlement and never ask for money up front. Therefore, anyone can afford to hire us but you can’t afford not to hire us against the insurance companies.

Andrew CherinSeattle Bike Accident Injury Car Accidents
Read more

Pedestrians Injured In Seattle Car Accident

If you are looking for a Seattle pedestrian car accident injury lawyer, you should be aware of your rights in the car accident. Pedestrian car accidents are some of the worst type of car accident injury cases because the person injured is often severely injured. This is obvious as they have no protection to limit the damages that a car can have on someone like someone safe in a car would have. Pedestrians are more prone to bone fracture type injuries and traumatic brain injuries than those in a car.

How to Prove Fault in a Pedestrian Car Accident Injury Case?

Pedestrians have a lot of advantages and rights to cross streets at certain spots than those in cars in Seattle. Pedestrians have a right of way to cross streets at intersections with cross walks and in unmarked cross walks. An unmarked cross walk is the like an invisible cross walk or where you would usually find a cross walk between streets. In these areas, cars are supposed to wait for the pedestrian and stop to let them cross the street.

What if you are injured in an area not in a cross walk or unmarked cross walk?

If a pedestrian is crossing the street at a spot other than a cross walk or an unmarked cross walk, they are generally not allowed to cross the street and they must wait until all cars have passed to cross safely. This is highly discouraged but people do it all the time when a cross walk or intersection is too far away.

In these situations, if a pedestrian is hit by a car, the pedestrian is not out of luck for recovering damages for being injured. The car driver has an obligation to be careful and prudent to not hit people that are in the road. This means that they must be driving with an awareness for obstacles and others. In Seattle, there is a distraction law that prevents people from using a cell phone while driving or any other acts that cause a driver to be distracted like eating, doing makeup, or smoking a cigarette.

If hit by car 50% your fault, Seattle is a Contributory Fault State so no worries

Contributory fault means that if a pedestrian is partially at fault for crossing the street and getting hit by a car, they can still recover damages minus the percentage fault they are responsible for causing in the car accident. This means that if the person crossing the street was deemed 50% at fault for being hit by the car, the judge will award the person hit by the car 50% of their damages. This means that if the other person caused $1 million dollars in damages, the pedestrian would recover $500,000 from the driver of the car’s insurance company.

Damages that a Pedestrian Can Recover in a Seattle Car Accident

If a pedestrian is hit by a car in Seattle, they can recover the cost of their medical bills, lost wages, future lost wages, and pain and suffering. If the pedestrian is hit by a car and the driver has PIP insurance, you are entitled to the driver’s PIP coverage to cover your medical bills up front, which is not available to a car driver hit by another car driver. This is unique as it applies to bicyclists, pedestrian, and passengers who are going after the driver of the car for negligence in causing a car accident.

Pedestrians Entitled to PIP of Driver and Their Own PIP Policy

Generally, you must pay for your own medical bills until you reach a settlement with the defendant’s insurance company for your total damages. However, most PIP policies are only $10,000 which may not be enough to cover your medical bills. At this point, a Seattle personal injury lawyer would look into trying to use your car insurance PIP policy to apply to the medical bills, your own medical insurance, or delaying payment of medical bills until we reach a settlement for the pedestrian’s injuries.

If you are injured by a car accident as a pedestrian, you are looking at an uphill battle to not only recover and get back to normal life as you know it, but also fighting the insurance company and making sure all your medical bills are paid. A Seattle car accident injury lawyer can allow you to focus on healing while they figure out how to get coverage for your injuries and negotiate a good settlement that you deserve. Contact Cherin Law Firm today for a free consultation.

Andrew CherinPedestrians Injured In Seattle Car Accident
Read more

How to find the best Seattle Personal Injury Lawyer For You

If you are looking for a Seattle personal injury lawyer to represent you in your car accident injury case, there are some important things you should be considering. If you are looking for a Seattle car accident lawyer for your case, you should look for someone that has good experience, communicates like you like them to with many options of style, has your goals in mind and not theirs for what to get out of your case, and has heartfelt reviews that talk about what the law firm did for them in detail and not a fake review by a friend or colleague that merely says good lawyer but gives them 5 stars.

Communication Style of Your Seattle Car Accident Injury Lawyer

When you are searching for a lawyer to represent you for your car accident injury case, you should look at their communication style and see if it matches your own. Communication is key in your personal injury case to make sure you are informed about what is going on with your case. Today personal injury lawyers can communicate with you in a whole lot of different ways from texting, phone calls, emails, video chat, or face to face meetings.

In today’s busy world many people do not have the time to have face to face meetings and appreciate fast email communications that can be checked and responded to quickly. Additionally, many people and millennials like texting than phone calls because they can continue to work on what they are doing without picking up the phone and they can respond when they can.

Cherin Law Firm communicates with their clients in many different ways including texting and email, which are usually responded to within minutes of a text or email. Additionally, if you are looking to talk on the phone or schedule a meeting, the receptionists at Cherin Law Firm will take your call and transfer you to Andrew Cherin the attorney to talk about your problems.

Seattle Personal Injury Lawyer with Your Goals In Mind, Not Theirs

Your car accident injury lawyer should have your goals in mind when they are approaching settling your car accident injury case. Most people do not want to go to trial and are looking for just compensation that will compensate them for their injuries. Some Seattle lawyers are very trial and litigation minded so that they do not really try to settle your car accident injury case very long before they file a lawsuit.

Your case is yours to decide what to do with. If it makes sense for you to settle your case outside of a court room and doesn’t drag on the process longer, it is your decision to accept a settlement offer or not and not your attorneys. A good Seattle personal injury lawyer will advise you on whether they believe that the highest offer the insurance company is making is a good offer that puts good money in your pocket or not. A good car accident injury lawyer will also weight the pros and cons of filing a lawsuit and whether it would make financial sense to do so or not.

At the Cherin Law Firm, we do not try to pressure our clients into settling a case or filing a lawsuit but we do give them advice on whether we believe an offer is a good offer or a bad one. We bring to our clients the maximum offer that we can get from the insurance company and break down what the settlement offer will put in the client’s pocket so they know whether this is an amount they feel compensates them enough for their pain and suffering, lost wages, and pays for all their medical bills.

Seattle Personal Injury Lawyer Reviews Say a Lot About Who They Are and What They Do For Their Clients

When you are searching for the best Seattle car accident lawyer to represent you for your car accident injury case, you should look at the client reviews that they have and read them.Don’t just look at the 5 stars, read some reviews. Some personal injury lawyers in Seattle have a lot of reviews but none of the reviews talk in detail about what that lawyer did for them and what they went through, making them seem like they were written by a friend or colleague that wasn’t an actual client. If a review talks in great detail about the service that the client received, you can trust that review was from an actual client.

The Cherin Law Firm has a lot of heartfelt reviews from our clients because we truly do care about what our clients have gone through and treat them how we would like to be treated. We do not have any reviews that say great lawyer and leave it at that. Our clients, who we are very blessed and honored to have served, write multiple paragraphs often about the struggles they went through from the car accident and the relief they felt knowing that the Cherin Law Firm handled all aspects of their case taking a big burden off of them.

Andrew CherinHow to find the best Seattle Personal Injury Lawyer For You
Read more

Uber Driverless Car Kills Pedestrian

Driverless technology is not quite here as evidenced by a fatal car accident on Sunday night. An Uber self-driving car struck and killed a pedestrian in Arizona in the first known fatality involving an autonomous vehicle. Uber temporarily pulled its self-driving cars off the roads in all four cities across the US as a result of the car accident.  The killed woman was walking her bicycle outside of a crosswalk across the street when the car hit her.

Driverless Cars Break the Law Speeding?

Car Accident Related Deaths Increase by 6% in 2016

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 94% of crashes involve human error. The number of lives lost on U.S. roads surged nearly 6% to 37,461 in 2016, according to the USDOT. It is unclear whether the increase in car accident related deaths is in relation to growing interurban communities and more traffic on the road or speed increases around the nation.

Pedestrians and Others Poise Special Risks for Driverless Cars

While robot cars are being created to follow traffic rules, interactions with humans continue to present hurdles. Pedestrians, in particular, can confuse systems because they are unpredictable. Even human drivers struggle to deal with pedestrians. About 50% of pedestrian fatalities involve people running into the road, failing to yield the right of way or otherwise crossing improperly, according to research by Duke’s Ms. Cummings. The Governors Highway Safety Association estimates nearly 6,000 pedestrians were killed in car accident in the U.S. last year, representing about 16% of all motor-vehicle deaths.

Driverless Tesla Accident in 2016

Tesla became the first auto maker to come under significant government scrutiny for a semiautonomous driving system when a man driving one of its Model S electric cars operating with the company’s Autopilot system died in a May 2016 collision with a truck on a Florida highway. In that car accident, apparently the technology could not see the

Some research suggests that the driverless technology has a hard time determining what is a car, what is not a car, and determining and adjusting for objects that suddenly dart in front of the car. The 2016 Tesla crash involved the Model S hitting a truck that was crossing the road. The company said its car’s system couldn’t see the truck’s white trailer against a bright sky. It isn’t clear if Uber’s laser sensors failed to detect the pedestrian.

Driverless Cars in Seattle

Late in 2017, Governor Inslee signed an Executive Order allowing driverless cars to be driven within the state of Washington. However, it is unclear how many driverless cars are currently driving around Seattle and Washington State as a result. Uber was doing an experiment with driverless cars in San Francisco, Phoenix, Toronto, and Pittsburgh before this car accident. While Lyft has driverless cars providing service in Boston currently.

Andrew CherinUber Driverless Car Kills Pedestrian
Read more