Collisions

The stock market isn't the only crash that ruins lives.
Vehicle crashes happen every day, every hour, every minute... somewhere.
Today, I investigated three vehicle collisions -- "collision" being a more politically correct word now than "accident."

It was the last case, the third,  I will blog about tonight, before I write up the case notes.

This collision, or crash, was  unusual because the Defendant driver was a police officer in an "undercover" police car everyone in the area knows is a really a cop car.
It's a sleek, black, ultra-hip, Knight Rider type vehicle known for its macho good looks and fast speed.

What this officer in the Knight Rider did was run a red light on a residential street at 55 mph.
The speed limit was 25.
My client and the car in front of it, a VW,  had the green light and were in the intersection.
First, the undercover Knight Rider struck the VW, which sent it spinning like a top. The VW spun into our client's Nissan four door, sending it into a telephone phone.

Inside my client's car was her 7 year old daughter. Both mom and  daughter were cut out of the car, and taken to the hospital by ambulance. My client's two other children, (she is a single parent) were at home with a neighbor when the hit happened.

The undercover police car had no lights flashing, no sirens blaring. Witnesses were present, they all told the same story --  the black police car was going way too fast, with no lights or sirens. And, they all said, it did not appear he was chasing anyone.

While Officer Knight Rider didn't hit our client... the VW that he did hit...  spun into our client's vehicle... then hit it twice before the our client's vehicle came to rest on the driver's side, against a telephone pole.
 
There would no doubt be a liability dispute between the police car and the VW.
And when the police are involved, one attorney told me, they protect their own.

So there I was today, my last case, sitting in her living room. They just got home from the hospital. Mom was alone with me on the sofa, while her three kids were upstairs watching TV.
She worked as a financial services rep at a major company. The accident happened Friday, so she only missed two days of work so far.

Mom had blown two discs in her lower back and sprained her neck.
She also fractured her sternum.
She  told me the Knight Rider Cop who worked for the local police apologized to her. One of the witnesses  yelled at the police officer for having no lights and sirens on.
And in what I call a very professional move, the State Patrol was dispatched to investigate an accident involving a local Police Agency.
From what I read of the State Patrol report, liability was clearly with the local officer. No favoritism, no good-old-boy-isms. 

It's easy to tell someone not to worry...
That everything's going to be all right.
Yet, at first,  this single mother would hear none of it.
It was like a dam broke in that living room as her composed mask cracked and the water works began. She told me she was alone, totally alone. She just moved to the area, has no family, no friends, no support network, and now no car.

I tried again.
One step at a time, I told her.
The attorneys will help her I said.
They will help her get a rental.
They will help her get a property damage settlement so she can get another car.
They will get the DEF to   pay her medical bills at the end of the case.
Until they do, they will help her find decent doctors the insurance companies respect who will work on a lien against the case.
And I said she is no longer alone.
Now she has the attorneys, I said.
"And me, " I added, as I handed her my business card.

There was more information she needed to know.
I told her how  insurance companies work, what her rights are and ultimately... what every woman wants to hear,
"Everything's gonna' be all right."

Rockabye.

I watched the calm sink in as the sun set  and I felt the calling home.
I said my goodbyes, told her I'd have her case into the  law firm in the morning.

It was 40 miles from her house to mine.
On the concrete sea called the highway, I was surrounded by potential enemies, collisions waiting to happen.
Yet  again, I returned here unscathed.
Perhaps it's because I am so paranoid that I have never been in a crash.
Perhaps I am just lucky.
Or perhaps someone like me needs to be out there for people who aren't so lucky,

The moral of tonight's story is a simple one.
Survival is a good thing.
No matter what shape you are in after a collision,
no matter how bleak it seems...
when you consider the alternative,
every day above ground is a good day.