Philadelphia Top Injury Lawyer Blog

Barely a week ago, Philadelphia Flyers playoff hero Danny Briere and his 9-year-old son fortunately escaped serious personal injuries when they were involved in a car-truck accident in New York just north of the Pennsylvania border. Just after midnight, a tired Briere drifted into the truck's lane. His car smashed into the guardrail; the tractor-trailer jackknifed and overturned. Briere sustained injuries to his arm and hand which are not expected to affect his future with the Flyers. His son and the truck driver suffered minor injuries.

The prognosis is considerably less rosy for Giants' rookie safety Chad Jones. A severe personal injury car accident early Friday morning may have cut short his promising NFL career. Jones suffered severe personal injuries when he lost control of his SUV and crashed into a utility pole while in New Orleans for the Giant's training camp. Jones recently signed a 4-year, $2.615 million contract with the Giants.

After being cut out of his car, Jones was transported to Louisiana State University Trauma Center where he remains in "guarded condition" following several hours of surgery to repair his shattered leg. Jones' father told reporters that while the surgery was successful, Jones faces a long and painful rehabilitation. Jones is expected to remain in the hospital for some time due to the severity of his injuries and risk of infection. Jones hopes to regain the use of his leg, but his NFL career is in serious jeopardy. Two passengers in Jones' car suffered minor personal injuries. Police are investigating.

Injuries to sports stars grab the headlines, but serious Philadelphia personal injury car accidents often exact the same high costs -- months of hospitalization and rehabilitation, loss of income and possible life-altering permanent disability. When serious car accidents occur, Philadelphia personal injury lawyers can protect your rights and pursue damage claims to which you may be entitled, allowing accident victims and their families to concentrate on recovery.

Just 10 days from his destination, John Anczarski's cross-country charity bike marathon ended in tragedy this week. While cycling through New Mexico, an SUV ran the 19-year-old Pennsylvania native off the road near Laguna, New Mexico, about 50 miles west of Albuquerque. Anczarski suffered severe head trauma and other serious personal injuries in the car-bicycle accident. He was transported to the University of New Mexico hospital where he was pronounced dead Tuesday.

An engineering student at the University of Colorado, Anczarski and three friends left Ringtown, Pennsylvania, Anczarski's hometown, on May 23 headed for California. The group was riding in support of Anczarski's ambitious charity project, "The Pink Pedal: Riding Hard to Fight Breast Cancer." Garnering community support along their route, the young men had raised several thousand dollars before the fatal car accident took Anczarski's life.

Anczarski's fellow riders reported that an older man was driving the SUV when the car struck Anczarski. They said the driver did not immediately stop but did return to the crash site. Because the accident occurred on tribal lands owned by the Pueblo Indians, the car accident Investigation has been turned over to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

A bicycle is no match for a car. Car-bicycle accidents are all too common when such mismatched vehicles share the road. According to the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, an estimated 36,000 Philadelphia commuters bicycle to work at least once a month. Bike traffic is particularly heavy in Philadelphia's Center City and on bridges crossing the Schuylkill. The number of bicycle riders cruising Philadelphia streets has more than tripled over the last decade. With more bikers on the roads during the summer, both cyclists and car drivers need to drive defensively and follow the rules of the road to avoid accidents.

If you are involved in a bicycle-car accident, an experienced Philadelphia personal injury lawyer can ensure that your rights are protected.

In a tragic bus accident Wednesday afternoon, a 6-year-old greater Philadelphia area boy was struck and run over by the school bus that had just dropped him off outside his home. The boy was struck just moments after stepping off the bus. Only a few days of school remained for the first grader at Pickering Valley Elementary School in Upper Uwchlan, Pennsylvania, located slightly northwest of Philadelphia. The young boy suffered severe, life-threatening personal injuries in the bus accident and was flown by helicopter to A.I. DuPont Children's Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware. Following surgery for his injuries, the 6-year-old remains hospitalized in critical condition.

Details of the bus accident are still under investigation, but Upper Uwchlan police Chief John DeMarco told Chester County Daily Local News that he does not expect the bus driver to face criminal charges in the accident. Police said the bus driver was driving at or below the posted 25 mph speed limit. Downingtown Area School District spokeswoman Patricia McGlone characterized the accident as "unavoidable" and told reporters, "We don't believe that the driver was at fault." However, no details concerning the accident or explaining exactly how the young boy was struck and run over have been released to the public.

The distraught bus driver, an employee of Wolfington Bus Co., has been unable to return to her job. The bus involved in the accident has been removed from service pending investigation. The bus company has assigned a veteran relief driver to drive the route until school ends next week and has placed a safety coordinator on board.

A tragedy for all concerned, it is in highly emotional accidents like this one that the highly honed investigative skills of an experienced Philadelphia personal injury attorney can be particularly beneficial in protecting the rights of accident victims and obtaining the largest possible settlement in the fastest possible time.

Four motorists suffered serious personal injuries in a horrific Philadelphia car accident that occurred over the weekend. The multi-vehicle accident shut down the southbound lanes of I-95 Friday night between Grand Avenue and Allegheny and backed up Philadelphia traffic for miles.

While the accident is still under investigation, Philadelphia police investigators said a southbound Subaru struck the rear of a Nissan Altima, setting off a chain reaction accident that also involved a Chrysler 300 and Dodge Intrepid. The force of the accident caused the Dodge Intrepid to overturn, severely injuring the driver who was not wearing a seatbelt. He was transported to Hahnemann University Hospital. The driver and two passengers in the Altima also incurred serious personal injuries and were taken to Philadelphia hospitals.

It can take months to unravel the details of serious personal injury car accidents, particularly when multiple vehicles are involved. For example, an exhaustive 6-month police investigation of a fatal December Philadelphia car accident just concluded last week, resulting in the arraignment of a 19-year-old Philadelphia man on charges of murder, vehicular homicide and involuntary manslaughter. The tragic December Philadelphia car accident took the lives of driver Zachary McGehrin's two teenaged passengers. Police investigators allege that McGehrin had marijuana in his system last December when he speed his car into a garbage truck without braking.

When serious Philadelphia personal injury car accidents occur, accident victims and their families need to focus their energy and resources on medical treatment, rehabilitation and, when a death occurs, grieving. Serious car accidents can result in months of difficult recovery and rehabilitation and sometimes life-altering disabilities. Accident victims and their families can find comfort in seeking the help of Philadelphia personal injury lawyers experienced in investigating and litigating serious car accidents. Assured that their rights will be fully protected, Philadelphia accident victims and their families can focus their energies on recovering from their injuries.

Toyota, now facing more than 327 defective product and personal injury lawsuits in the U.S., is not the only automobile manufacturer placing Philadelphia drivers are risk. Chrysler has just recalled in excess of 600,000 vehicles in Philadelphia and across the country, including all Jeep Wranglers manufactured from 2008 to 2010. Three different safety recalls that have the potential to cause car accidents resulting in serious personal injury target defective brakes, defective doors and defective accelerator pedals in various Chrysler models.

• A brake defect on Chrysler's Jeep Wranglers causes excessive wear on brake tubes that can cause brakes to leak and lose power.
• A defective wire harness in the sliding doors of Chrysler Town and Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans can wear through and catch fire.
• Echoing Toyota's problems, sticky accelerator pedals on Dodge Caliber and Jeep Compass crossovers can cause unexpected acceleration.

Toyota's dismal response to auto safety issues and the legal fallout precipitated by the company's failure to act responsibly about defective products appears to be driving a surge in proactive auto recalls, although heightened government oversight certainly plays a role. In issuing the recent recalls, Chrysler noted that it had received no reports of accidents or personal injuries related to the product defects,

Chrysler is not alone in increasing product liability oversight. GM last week recalled 1.5 million vehicles in Philadelphia and worldwide to fix a defective heated windshield-wiper fluid system that could catch fire. Five fires have been reported in GM vehicles that include the defective wiper system. Toyota also continues to experience problems, recently recalling 3,600 Lexus LS sedans sold in Philadelphia and other U.S. cities because of a defective steering system.

If you own an automobile involved in a recall, see your Philadelphia auto dealers promptly for recall repairs. If you are involved in a Philadelphia car accident, talk to a Philadelphia personal injury attorney about your rights. Defective auto parts often cause or contribute to vehicle accidents.

A Philadelphia area jury has awarded more than half a million dollars in damages to a Monroe County couple for injuries suffered in a serious 2004 personal injury car accident. On June 4, 2010, the Monroe County, Pennsylvania jury awarded Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Schotter $547,000 in compensation for severe back injuries Mr. Schotter suffered during a November 2004 Philadelphia area car accident.

The personal injury accident occurred in Monroe County on SR 715, just south of the closed Roadway Express terminal. Schotter was a passenger in a co-worker's pickup truck when they were hit head-on by a driver traveling in the wrong lane. Both men were on their way to work at Roadway Express where Schotter had worked for 13 years as a forklift operator and dock worker.

Schotter suffered severe personal injuries in the car accident that made it impossible for him to work for the next 7 months. The accident fractured Schotter's sternum and caused three herniated disks. When Schotter was able to return to work, he was plagued with severe low back pain. After a 3-day trial last week, the jury deliberated for only 2 hours before returning a verdict in favor of the Schotters.

Experienced Philadelphia personal injury attorneys note that it is not unusual for a personal injury case to take a number of years to come to trial. Extensive investigation may be required to ascertain the facts surrounding the accident. It can be months, sometimes years, before medical teams can assess the full extent of injuries and long-term disability. The length of time required to process a personal injury case is one of the reasons that Philadelphia personal injury lawyers charge a fee only at recovery. Personal injury clients are not burdened with legal fees as they seek recovery for damages suffered.

A Pennsylvania congressional candidate suffered personal injuries during a car accident in northeastern Pennsylvania last week and spent several days in the hospital. Republican congressional candidate Tom Marino, who is expected to recover from his injuries, was the victim of a head-on collision with another car near Towanda, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania state police arrested a woman on suspicion of drunken driving. According to reports, the woman driver swerved out of her lane and struck Marino's car head-on.

Liability in Philadelphia car accidents like this one seems clear, particularly when police issue a citation to one of the drivers. However, the majority of Philadelphia car accidents do not result in a clear assignment of liability. Even when citations are issued by police, insurance company red tape and legal issues can make it difficult for Philadelphia accident victims to collect the funds they may be entitled to. Without legal assistance from an experienced Philadelphia personal injury attorney, accident victims and their families may be left struggling to pay doctor and hospital bills on their own. In the case of serious personal injuries, rehabilitation costs and loss of income during recovery can place additional financial burdens on accident victims and their families. A Philadelphia personal injury lawyer can ensure that accident victims and their families receive the compensation to which they are entitled.

Under Pennsylvania law, first party Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits are paid by insurance companies regardless of fault, typically for medical bills and lost wages up to a specified amount. However, third party benefits are only payable by insurance companies when another driver is at fault. Third party benefits can include medical reimbursement, pain and suffering, lost wages and property damage. Car accident victims often require the assistance of a skilled Philadelphia personal injury attorney to obtain the full insurance benefits to which they are entitled.

A Philadelphia woman waived her preliminary hearing this week in the fatal hit-and-run car accident that took the life of a high school senior from Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania. Nineteen-year-old Stephanie Phillips is charged with an accident involving death or personal injury, a felony, and driving with a suspended or revoked driver's license. By waiving her hearing, Phillips admitted there is evidence to try the case in court. Phillips is free on bail awaiting a July arraignment in Montgomery County Court. If convicted, she could be sentenced to 3 1/2 to 7 years in prison.

According to police, while traveling east on Germantown Pike near Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, Phillips' car struck 17-year-old Denise Cotteta but did not stop when the girl stepped into the dark roadway on March 28. Phillips told police investigators she "panicked" after hitting the high schooler who died at the hospital. When police stopped Phillips' car not far from the accident site, she admitted her part in the personal injury accident. Philadelphia personal injury attorneys note that had Phillips stopped and stayed at the accident scene, she would not have been charged with a felony as investigators have determined that Cotteta walked into the car's path. However, leaving the scene of a personal injury car accident is a felony.

Eyewitnesses said Cotteta was among a group of Plymouth Whitemarsh High School students who had been partying to celebrate the school basketball team's state championship win. While some of the students had been drinking, investigators said Cotteta's blood alcohol level was well below the legal limit.

Philadelphia car accidents are never black and white. As this case shows, investigation by law enforcement authorities and Philadelphia personal injury lawyers is often required to discover all the facts of a personal injury car accident. This accident shattered two young lives. Philadelphia personal injury lawyers work to help put the pieces back together.

As Philadelphia motorists head into Memorial Day, one of the busiest driving weekends of the year, drivers should be aware of the steps they should take if they are involved in a Philadelphia car accident. Making the right decisions and following correct procedures after a Philadelphia car accident can be critical to preventing additional personal injuries and speeding resolution of medical and auto repair bills. When serious personal injuries occur, following recommended procedures will protect your legal rights.

Seek safety. If possible, move your vehicle out of traffic. Get yourself and others to a safe area along the side of the road and away from traffic. If there is no safe place to wait for help, stay in your vehicle and keep your seatbelt on.

Call for help. Call 911 and tell the operator what happened, the location of the accident, the medical condition of accident victims, damage to vehicles involved; and your cell phone number. If possible, keep the line open while waiting for help to arrive.

Exchange information. Exchange information with the other driver, including his name, address and phone number. Write down the make, model, color and license plate number of other vehicles involved and record insurance company names and contact information. If there were passengers in the other vehicle, get their names and contact information.

Document the accident. Record the date and time of the accident, weather conditions, location and direction each vehicle was traveling. If you have a camera phone, take pictures. Get names and contact information of any eyewitnesses.

When a car accident results in serious personal injuries, contact an experienced Philadelphia personal injury attorney for a free case evaluation.

A tragic multiple truck accident not far from Philadelphia shut down a 26-mile stretch of the New Jersey turnpike for nearly 8 hours this week. The 3-truck accident, which occurred near Chesterfield, NJ, south of Trenton, involved a box truck, a dump truck and a tanker trailer loaded with 8,000 gallons of volatile kerosene. Accident investigators believe the box truck rear-ended the tanker, pushing the vehicles into the path of the dump truck. The box truck driver was killed and the tanker driver remains hospitalized with serious personal injuries.

Commercial trucks are responsible for more than 12% of Philadelphia vehicle collisions. This week's crash on the New Jersey turnpike was unusual in that it involved three trucks, perhaps because it occurred at 1:00 a.m. when truck traffic is heavy and automobile traffic is light. In the majority of Philadelphia truck accidents, a truck collides with one or more cars. A car is no match for a truck and fatalities and severe personal injuries are frequent in such collisions. When trucks and cars collide, Philadelphia personal injury attorneys investigate log books, GPS data, black box data and engine computers to identify actions taken by the truck driver prior to and during the crash. Frequently, truck driver exhaustion, failure to track cars that wander into the truck's blind spot and truck maintenance issues are found to be contributing factors in truck/car accidents.

When truck accidents occur, a Philadelphia personal injury lawyer with expertise in investigating and litigating truck accidents is aware of the many demands trucking companies may put on their drivers. Pressure to meet delivery deadlines can cause truck drivers to disobey federal safety rules and drive more hours than allowed, resulting in driving errors, aggressive driving or lack of concentration. If you or a loved one suffers personal injury in a truck accident, consult an experienced Philadelphia personal injury attorney for a free case evaluation.

During rush hour this morning, the Philadelphia driver of a minivan lost control of his vehicle and plowed into a parked car on Ben Franklin Parkway. The force of the Philadelphia car accident triggered a chain reaction that damaged two additional vehicles. No serious personal injuries were reported, and the accident is under investigation. It is not yet known what caused the driver to lose control.

Driver error is sometimes found to be the cause when a car veers out of control and causes property damage or a personal injury accident. Other times, the problem is mechanical failure as was the case recently with Toyota's accelerator problems. Many Toyota vehicles as well as other manufacturers' cars and trucks are equipped with a black box attached to the engine that records vehicle performance data during a crash. Used by automakers to solve problems, Philadelphia personal injury lawyers now regularly request that black box accident data be shared. While many automakers comply, Toyota typically had not.

In the wake of the recent Toyota recall, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee has released a draft bill of legislation that would increase vehicle safety for Philadelphia citizens. The proposed legislation would require all new cars and trucks to be equipped with black boxes to aid car and Philadelphia truck accident investigators. The legislation would also eliminate the cap on civil penalties that limits automaker liability. If made into law, the measure would also beef up National Highway Traffic Safety Administration authority, enabling it to order immediate vehicle recalls if it believed a vehicle posed an "imminent hazard of death or serious injury."

Philadelphia personal injury attorneys support any measure that allows the victims of personal injury car accidents to obtain facts about car crashes. Black box findings could be a real help to Philadelphia personal injury investigators working to reconstruct car accidents.

In a freak Philadelphia personal injury car accident, a woman driver was killed over the weekend when her car became sandwiched between two others in a tragic three-car crash. The unidentified female driver was stopped at a red light on 61st Street near Passyunk Avenue in southwest Philadelphia when a Saturn driven by 31-year-old man failed to stop and struck her from behind. The force of the crash propelled the woman's Buick into the middle of the intersection where she was broadsided by another woman driving a Kia. The second crash ejected the woman driver from her Buick, trapping her under the Kia. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The two other drivers were taken to Philadelphia hospitals in critical condition. To date no charges have been filed against either of the drivers as police continue to investigate this tragic personal injury accident.

When serious Philadelphia car accidents occur, the repercussions extend well beyond the immediate impact of the accident. Not only can families be saddled with huge hospital and doctor bills, but survivors may need extensive medical care and rehabilitation or expensive medication for months, even years. Mounting medical bills can quickly overwhelm a family's finances, particularly when the injured family member is the breadwinner and is unable to continue working.

When a Philadelphia personal injury accident victim is permanently disabled or killed, families can be devastated. While struggling to cope with the emotional loss of a loved one, they must also face the financial difficulties created by the loss of family income, the burden of mounting medical debt, and, in the case of death, unexpected funeral expenses. When another driver has caused such devastation, families can turn to an experienced Philadelphia personal injury attorney for possible relief. A Philadelphia personal injury lawyer will review your case without charge and tell you what your rights are under the law.

If our last post we shared some of the tricks of the trade Philadelphia personal injury attorneys use when investigating car accidents and truck accidents. Investigation is crucial in determining fault and responsibility when serious personal injury car accidents occur. Today, we continue our list of Philadelphia personal injury car accident investigation tips:

Was either driver talking or texting on his cell phone? Police can subpoena cell phone records to determine if calls were made or received during the accident time. Personal injury lawyers can gain access to these records when a legal action is implemented.

Were the car's headlights on? Because headlights make a car more visible in low light, this question is particularly important when car accidents occur during twilight or early dawn hours. Investigators examine the light bulb filament inside the headlamp. The filament would be cold if the headlights were off and would crack or snap into pieces on impact. If the headlights were on, the filament would be hot and would stretch and twist on impact.

Where in the roadway was each car? The location of each car in the roadway at the time of the accident helps Philadelphia personal injury attorneys determine whether either driver was changing lanes, preparing to turn, trying to avoid an obstruction in the parking lane or had, perhaps, ventured outside his lane or over the median. Measurements between the point of impact and lane barriers help investigators determine each vehicle's path prior to and during the accident.

Was either driver drunk or driving impaired? While field sobriety tests are not administered by police in every auto accident, they are usually conducted if the officer has reason to suspect alcohol or drug impairment. When sobriety tests are not conducted, personal injury lawyers may canvass accident witnesses or friends and associates of the drivers to determine whether either driver engaged in alcohol or drug use just prior to the accident.

Investigation of a serious personal injury car accident begins with many questions that must be answered by police investigators and Philadelphia personal injury lawyers. Who had the right of way? How fast were the cars going? Was the vision of either driver impaired? How fast did the drivers react? And many other questions must be investigated and answered before fault and legal liability can be determined. Many people wonder how police and Philadelphia personal injury lawyers investigate and determine fault when serious personal injury car accidents occur.

Philadelphia personal injury investigators use a combination of physics, trigonometry, computer technology and eyewitness accounts to find answers to questions. Here are a few tricks of the trade shared by Philadelphia personal injury attorneys:

Who had the green light? When car accidents occur at traffic lights, it can be difficult to determine who had the green light. Investigators first insure that the traffic signal was functioning properly. If the intersection has a traffic camera, they access any video records and also check for surveillance videos on any nearby buildings. Eyewitnesses are also canvassed. Personal injury lawyers may advertise for eyewitnesses to the accident when police reports don't include such accounts.

Was either driver speeding? Using math formulas and physics principles, investigators can determine the speed of each vehicle by measuring the distances between impact points and final stopping points. Computer crash simulation software is also used to estimate vehicle speeds and trajectories. Skid marks on pavement surfaces can tell car accident investigators whether drivers applied their brakes and where braking action began. Skid marks and the distance one car pushed another can also tell investigators whether a car was accelerating at the time of an accident. Many vehicles now have crash data retrieval systems attached to their engines (like the black box in an airplane) that provide answers to questions about acceleration and braking.

More next time

A new law that takes effect on Monday, May 3, 2010, has caused some confusion for Philadelphia drivers. Under the new regulation, Philadelphia drivers will no longer be required to contact police immediately after a minor car accident. Beginning Monday, Philadelphia drivers may exchange personal and vehicle information and leave the accident scene, waiting until they return home to alert police and their insurance company. It's the definition of "minor" accident that has many Philadelphia drivers confused.

Minor accidents are those that involve no personal injuries and no physical damage to surrounding property, including any residential, commercial and government-owned property. In a minor accident, all damage is confined to the motor vehicles involved in the crash and damage to those vehicles is slight enough that they can continue to be driven safely. If anyone affected by the accident suffers even a slight personal injury, the police must be contacted immediately. If the accident causes any property damage -- landscape plants, fences, other autos, signage, etc. -- or any vehicle suffers major damage or cannot be safely driven, the police must be called.

The new law also specifies that all drivers involved in the accident must exchange owner and vehicle information. Experienced Philadelphia personal injury lawyers recommend exchanging the following information:

• Make, model, year, color, license plate state and number and vehicle identification number (VIN) of the car.


• Name, address, phone number and driver's license number of the driver. Always write down the information from the license, but also ask if the information on the license is current and write down any different information the driver gives you verbally.


• Auto insurance company name and policy number.

You may also want to snap a few pictures of the accident site and any damage to the other vehicle as a precaution. Once you return home, Philadelphia drivers are required to call the police to report the accident and should then call their insurance company.