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Seattle schools start Wednesday September 4, 2019 for grades 1-12 and Monday September 9, 2019 for kindergartners. This is just a reminder that you need to slow down when driving around school zones and around children walking on streets starting next week. For some children, this is the first time they have gone to school and the chaos of all the new children they get to meet and cars picking them up or dropping them off for school may confuse children so drive slow in case one darts out into the street.

We make 20 mph speed limits in school zones so people can safely stop when an unexpected child runs out into the middle of the street because they were chasing a ball, running to their parents, or playing tag. Children in grade school, especially, are learning basic life skills and may not be aware of the true dangers of walking or running around busy school streets.

Seattle has so many school zones that you may miss them if you are driving in an area that you are not familiar with. This could lead to a $234 ticket by camera or by police officer, if you are driving over 20mph while the flashing lights are on or children are present.

According to the Seattle school districts website, School zone cameras and flashing warning signals generally start 40 minutes before a school starts and lasts until about 10 minutes after school is to start. Additionally, the school zone cameras and warning signals start 10 minutes before school gets out and ends 30 minutes after school ends.

For the 2019-2020 school year, grades 1-5 start at 7:55am and go until 2:25pm. However, on Wednesdays, schools have early releases at 1:10. This means that school zone cameras will probably be in force from 7:15am to 8:05 am for the morning and between 2:15pm to 2:55pm after school, most days. However, 20 mph flashing signals will most likely be flashing indicating you must slow down during these times as well.

Most Seattle middle schools and high schools will go from 8:55am-3:45pm and getting out at 2:30 on early dismissal Wednesdays. This means that school zone cameras will probably be in force from 8:05am to 9:05am for the morning and between 3:35pm to 4:15pm after school, most days. For a complete list of school schedules, check out the Seattle school districts site here.

No one wants to see their child or anyone else’s child hit by a car. There is no more of a horrific scene than to see your young, innocent loved one struck by a car. Car accidents are devastating events that are easily preventable with care and attention for those around you. Drive safely and anticipate others. Drive slow in school zones for your children and other children’s safety and well being.

There is one very important type of insurance coverage that all drivers NEED to have and that is Underinsured or Uninsured Motorist Insurance (UIM). UIM is an auto policy insurance that will cover your damages in case you are injured in a Seattle car accident and the other person who causes the car accident either doesn’t have insurance or doesn’t have enough insurance to cover all of your damages.

It is depressing how many people are driving with the bare minimum insurance coverage or no insurance coverage at all in Seattle. Some studies show as much as 50% of people are driving with little or no insurance coverage. If you get hit by someone who has little or no insurance coverage and you do not have UIM insurance, you could be out of luck.

The minimum liability insurance limit in Washington State is $25,000. This is a very small amount of money because it must cover all of your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

To get an idea of how fast $25,000 can get eaten up in a car accident injury case, know that most hospital visits that last more than 1 or 2 days can cost over $25,000 alone. If you are seriously injured in a car accident and require a lengthy stay in the hospital, that will easily eat into if not all of the $25,000 possible settlement with the defendant. If you do not have UIM insurance, this could be the most you can get out of the settlement.

Even if you do not need to go to the hospital but instead require a lengthy rehab and miss a lot of work, the $25,000 the other person has in insurance coverage may not be enough to adequately pay for all of your medical bills, cover your lost wages, and provide you with enough pain and suffering to be adequate.

This is not to say that a personal injury lawyer cannot help you if the other person has only $25,000 in insurance coverage. A Seattle car accident injury lawyer may be able to negotiate down your medical bills, reduce the amount your insurance is owed back through subrogation, and actually allow you to get some money in your pocket when it looks like all of the money will be eaten up by insurance and medical bills. If you have PIP insurance or medical insurance coverage, this will help some but not replace UIM.

If you have UIM insurance, great! UIM insurance will step in just like the other person had whatever your UIM policy limits are and whatever insurance coverage, if any, the other driver had. If the person had $25,000 and you have $25,000, you would have $50,000 available for your case settlement. Much better to work with than $25,000 alone.

However, this does not mean that your insurance company will treat you fairly and give you all of this money. They will fight tooth and nails to try to pay you as little as possible for your case, even though they are your own insurance company. This is why you need a Seattle car accident injury lawyer to represent you for your car accident injury case.

UIM insurance is very affordable and can cost as low as $3-4/month for $250,000 in UIM coverage. Meanwhile, collision coverage costs you $25-$30/month depending on your car’s make, model, and year. If you are looking to skimp on insurance coverage cost somewhere and your car is worth less that $5,000, you probably can skip on collision coverage, as your deductible and monthly premium will easily eat up the value of your car quickly.

Make sure that you have UIM insurance so you are not out of luck in case you are injured in a Seattle car accident. Call a Seattle car accident injury lawyer today for a free consultation. (206) 850-6716 or email [email protected].

If you didn’t have enough reasons already to get personal injury protection (PIP) added to your car insurance, here are some more reason in case you are injured in a Seattle car accident.

PIP is odd because technically it is required to have under Washington State law, but there is a clause that says that you can waive PIP by signing it away in your insurance contract. YOU SHOULD NOT WAIVE PIP.

PIP is incredibly cheap to add to your plan and I definitely recommend that you max it out. PIP comes in benefits of $10,000, $20,000, and $35,000. PIP can cost you as little as $5/month to add to your plan for $10,000 in benefits to as much as $10/month to max it out at $35,000.

PIP covers any medical treatment that you need as a result of a car accident and you do not need a referral to see any of your medical providers, although it is recommended for all specialized care not including chiropractic, physical therapy, or massage therapy.

Additionally, PIP comes with $200 a week in lost wage coverage for a maximum benefit up to your PIP policy amount. However, PIP lost wage coverage only starts paying after a brief few weeks waiting period, which most people return to work after a week off anyways, so you may not see that benefit. However, if you are severely injured, $200/week is better than nothing.

You need PIP because the defendant’s insurance will not pay for any of your medical bills until you settle with them, which could send all of your bills to collections and seriously hurt your credit score. Additionally, if you have a Seattle car accident injury lawyer representing you, your Seattle car accident injury lawyer can negotiate the amount you owe back to PIP out of the settlement in subrogation down by at least 1/3 of the amount PIP paid.

There are a few exceptions to this rule where PIP is actually given to you by the defendant’s insurance company but this only happens where the other driver has PIP and you were riding your bike, crossing the street as a pedestrian, or you were a passenger in their car.

If you do not have PIP or PIP runs out, you can pay for your medical bills with your medical insurance. However, while this is a great benefit to have and can severely lower the amount of your hospital bills, medical insurance plans usually do not include chiropractic or massage therapy coverage, and if they do they are generally capped at a certain limit like 10 visits per year. PIP on the other hand will cover massage, chiropractic, physical therapy, hospital visits, doctor’s appointments, ambulance rides, etc.

If you run out of PIP or your medical insurance plan does not include certain services, a Seattle car accident injury lawyer should be able to make an arrangement with your treating providers to pay them back out of the settlement. This will allow you to continue to receive the treatment that you need and pay nothing out of pocket until you settle your case and your attorney pays them out of the settlement at that time.

If you are injured in a car accident in or around Seattle, please give us a call and we will be happy to walk you through your car accident injury case with a free consultation. (206) 850-6716 or email [email protected].

This is one of the most confusing areas of a car accident injury case for a lot of people. People generally believe that because the other person caused the car accident, their insurance will pay for the medical bills immediately. This is not completely accurate.

The defendant’s insurance company will not pay for your medical bills until you settle with them. For some people, this can be seen as a pressure to settle early because they may not believe that they can pay for medical treatment without the defendant’s insurance covering their bills. Because you want to wait until you are fully healed to settle your case, it can be very difficult to not try to settle at this point, but holdfast you have many options.

How then do you pay for your medical bills while you are waiting to settle your case? You have many options to pay for your medical bills while you wait to settle with the defendant’s insurance. You can pay for your medical bills through your own car insurance medical policy called personal injury protection. If you don’t have personal injury protection, you can pay for your medical bills with your medical insurance. If you don’t have medical insurance that covers certain types of treatment or enough medical insurance to cover your bills, you can sign a letter of guarantee with the treatment provider to pay them back out of the settlement.

PIP insurance pays for your medical bills while you wait to settle with the defendant. Most car insurance policies have $10,000 in PIP coverage, which is generally enough to cover a chiropractic treatment, massage therapy, and physical therapy. However, $10,000 may not be enough if you go to the hospital. In that situation, you can use your medical insurance to pay for anything that goes beyond your PIP, including your hospital bills. Some people elect for the high amount of PIP coverage which is $35,000.

PIP coverage is required in Washington State, however, you can waive it by signing it away, which some people do to save money. PIP coverage is not very expensive so you should include it with your policy. Additionally, if your insurance does not maintain a signed waiver of PIP, you may be entitled to the benefits.

Medical insurance generally does not cover car accident injury cases unless you don’t have PIP coverage or your PIP coverage is exhausted. At that point, your medical insurance will be primary and cover all visits according to your insurance coverage.

All medical bills paid by your medical insurance and PIP insurance must be paid back out of the settlement by a process called subrogation. However, subrogation allows for you to have the benefit of lower contract rates with hospital, medical doctors, etc., lowering the amount you have to pay back. In addition to this benefit of lower contracted rates, which are usually 1/4 of the actual bill paid, Washington State law requires that the insurance company pay their pro rata share of attorney’s fee, thus lowering the amount you owe them by at least 1/3 and sometimes more. For this reason, it is vital to have PIP and or medical insurance pay for your medical bills in a personal injury case and will end up putting more money in your pocket in the end.

If you do not have PIP coverage or medical insurance, or you exhaust all your benefits, you are not a loss. You can still avoid paying for medical bills out of pocket before settling your case by having your medical provider agree to be delay being paid right now and get paid out of the settlement down the road. Most chiropractors, physical therapists, and massage therapists will agree to this arrangement so long as you have a personal injury lawyer representing you. They will also require you and your attorney to sign a letter of guarantee that states you direct your attorney to pay them back out of the settlement. This is a huge benefit for people that do not have PIP or medical insurance that covers chiropractic treatment or massage.

In Washington State, there is a 3 year statute of limitations to settle your case. This is more than enough time for most injuries to heal. However, getting the proper treatment to get you back to normal can be a struggle if not properly addressed and consistently addressed.

If you have been injured in a car accident, please contact a Seattle personal injury lawyer today for a free consultation. We are paid out of the settlement so everyone can afford us but you can’t afford not to have us when settling against insurance companies. Most cases do not go to trial and can be settled within 2-3 months of being done with treatment. Call today!

I get a lot of questions about what is a good car accident injury case, how much is my case worth, will other person have to pay me money personally or just their insurance company, will my case have to go to trial if I hire a lawyer, can I afford a lawyer, will my case drag on forever, etc.? I will answer each of these questions below.

Do you have to be seriously injured in order to hire a personal injury lawyer for your car accident? The answer may surprise some people but no. Most of my cases are people who have been injured in a car accident and require chiropractic care, physical therapy, and massage therapy in order to get better. Most people are done with treatment anywhere from 3 months to 9 months of treatment. These are good cases and worth hiring a lawyer for.

Can you afford to hire a personal injury lawyer? This is the best part of being a personal injury lawyer – everyone can afford to hire one. We are paid out of the settlement a strict percentage 33 and 1/3 percent with no costs up front to you. This is an area of law that is different that all others where you will have to put up a large retainer to pay for a lawyer.

Will my case have to go to trial or take a long time to settle if I hire a lawyer? 99.9% of cases do not go to trial after hiring a personal injury lawyer. We can usually settle your case within 2-3 months of you being done with treatment. The whole process is relatively quick compared to people’s thought of how long a personal injury case takes. The case is yours to settle so we will present to you the insurance company’s highest offer and break it down so you know what exactly you are getting in your pocket.

How much is my case worth? This is one of the hardest questions to answer without a lot of information about you. Things to consider are what kind of treatment you had, what injuries were you diagnosed with, how much are your medical bills, how long was your treatment, did you have any broken bones, did you have surgery, how much work did you miss, do you have any permanent injuries, etc.? You could be owed $10,000 or more depending on how seriously you were injured. Obviously the more serious, the more money you are owed.

Will the other person have to pay a bunch of money personally or will their insurance company cover everything for them? Some people are worried about financially hurting the person that injured them and 99% of the time the person who caused the car accident will not have to pay a dime towards your personal injury case. The entire case will be covered by their insurance company, most of the time.

Contact a Seattle personal injury lawyer immediately in order to determine whether you have a good case and could use the services of a personal injury lawyer. We give free consultations so you have nothing to lose but everything to gain by talking to us.

Lane sweeping in Seattle is the cause of a lot of traffic downtown, especially for cars taking left turns. No I am not talking about sweeping with a broom to clean dirt off the ground. I am talking about a driving maneuver where one car passes over a lane illegally.

Lane sweeping is one of the most common illegal driving maneuvers that most people do not even know is illegal. Lane sweeping is where a car take a right hand turn and doesn’t turn into the lane closest to the curb but rather passes over this lane and into the next one.

Most people turn into the second lane because they perceive that their car cannot turn that tightly to get into the lane closest to the curb. However, all cars except for certain semi trucks and buses are capable of turning into the lane closest to the curb.

Unfortunately, this type of behavior can cause traffic jams when oncoming cars are prevented from turning left because the car in front of them decides to take a wide right turn into the second hand lane. The car turning left the opposite way of the car actually has the right to that lane, however, most people will cede that lane to other cars in order to avoid a car accident or because they do not know the actual law.

One particular trouble spot where I continuously run into this problem is the intersection of Yesler Way and 1st Ave in downtown Seattle trying to turn left from eastbound on Yesler onto 1st AVE. Cars going west on Yesler constantly lane sweep during their right hand turn onto 1st AVE not allowing cars turning left to make a turn until there are basically no cars going west on Yesler.

Washington State law states that cars taking a right turn must turn into the lane closest to the curb. Cars that turn into the next lane over are actually committing a crime of illegal lane change, which is subject to a fine and is a moving violation that could make your insurance rates go up.

If you have been injured in a car accident by someone turning into your lane or doing a lane sweeping maneuver, call a Seattle personal injury lawyer today for your car accident. You could be entitled to compensation for pain and suffering, medical bills, and lost wages.

Driving without your headlights on can be very dangerous to those around you and yourself. Driving without your headlights on can make you invisible at night and possibly cause a car accident that injures you and others. If someone cannot see you coming straight for them, they may turn in front of you causing a “t-bone” or head on collision. For this reason, Seattle makes it mandatory to have your headlights on at certain times of the day and during certain conditions.

In Seattle, you have to have your headlights on half an hour after sunset until half an hour before sunrise. Sunset is determined by what the official time of sunset is in Seattle. For example, sunset in Seattle for May 29, 2018 is 8:56 pm. This means that you must have your headlights on at the latest by 9:26pm. If you have your headlights off after that time, you may be subject to a ticket and a fine.

Additionally, you have to have your headlights on where there is insufficient light on the road due to dark clouds, heavy rain, snow, etc. where objects are not discernible at a distance of 1,000 feet in the distance. It is important to have your headlights on during poor weather conditions so that others can see your car on the free way and on regular streets. If someone can’t see you, they may accidentally rear end your car or turn in front of you.

Luckily, today many cars have automatic lights that either run all the time or turn on when wether conditions or outside conditions get too dark. This makes it so you never have to remember to turn on your headlights at night or during heavy rain or snow. The sensors on your car will turn your lights on when they do not get enough light into them.

Here is the law-

RCW 46.37.020

Every vehicle upon a highway within this state at any time from a half hour after sunset to a half hour before sunrise and at any other time when, due to insufficient light or unfavorable atmospheric conditions, persons and vehicles on the highway are not clearly discernible at a distance of one thousand feet ahead shall display lighted headlights, other lights, and illuminating devices as hereinafter respectively required for different classes of vehicles, subject to exceptions with respect to parked vehicles, and such stop lights, turn signals, and other signaling devices shall be lighted as prescribed for the use of such devices.

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.

Driving in Seattle is tough with all the water on the roads and the many hills. You want to make sure you are safe on the road and avoid car accidents. One way to avoid car accidents is to make sure your car is being properly maintained and having good tires goes a long ways to keeping you safe from a car accident situation.

If you have bad tires, your car is more prone to lose traction on wet pavement when making turns and maneuvering around the road. There is nothing worse than spinning out or hydroplaning on the road and causing a car accident. This is also your fault for the car accident and injuries that you cause to someone else if your tires cause you to hydroplane or slip because there is no tread on the tires. If you are injured in a car accident that is your fault, a Seattle personal injury lawyer cannot represent you for your car accident.

Additionally, if you do not have good tires, your tires are more prone to getting punctured and becoming flat or blowing out on the road. When tires become run down and bald, they are much more prone to flats and blowouts because of the protective surface being eroded.

Kelly Bluebook states that there are three main ways to determine whether you need new tires or not – manufacturer’s recommendation or by inspection. The manufacturer of your tires has a ballpark expiration date for your tires usually somewhere between 25,000 and 50,000 miles. However, these are just estimated guesses based on how long they will warrant your tires to last for under normal wear and tear. They cannot predict for using your tires off road or on road that is very coarse that wears down your tires. There are some tires that will not last 20,000 miles and some that will last 45,000, it just depends how rough you drive your car and what kind of terrain your are driving on.

You should regularly inspect your tires to make sure that they have sufficient tread on them. One way is to look at the tread wear bars, which are little rubber bridges in the grooves between the ridges. If these bars are level with the tread pattern, then the tire has only 1/16th of an inch of tread remaining and must be replaced.

A second way to test the tread is done by inserting a penny or quarter into the center of the tread between two ridges with the image of Lincoln’s or Washington’s head facing toward you. If you can see the very top of the head, or worse, the space above the head, then the tire needs replacing immediately. If only some hair is visible, then it is time to consider purchasing new tires, though the need is not so urgent. If some of the forehead is concealed, there is still adequate tread.

The third option for measuring tread is to buy a depth gauge for your car. This can be bought on Amazon for as little as $15. As these are cheap, easily available at auto parts shops, and simple to use. They are often a worthwhile investment and have the advantage of providing a more accurate measurement than the other methods.

When buying a new tire Cars.com states that “you don’t have to spend lavishly on tires, but don’t automatically buy the cheapest ones either. Tires are the only part of your vehicle that are supposed to touch the ground, so make sure they’re up to the task. Choose tires that have high tread wear and traction ratings, and bear in mind that performance tires with higher speed ratings may not last long. For most cars, a balanced combination of wet traction, ride comfort, low noise levels and a high tread wear rating will probably be your best bet.”